


A Fragile Hope to see the Dawn

by Apricots_from_Nara



Category: Made in Abyss (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Bondrewd is still Bondrewd so read with this in mind, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Ido Front Spoilers, Loss of Parent(s), Medical Conditions, Medical Procedures, Parasites, Romance, Unethical Experimentation, Unethical Medicine, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:40:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 32,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29528616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apricots_from_Nara/pseuds/Apricots_from_Nara
Summary: Orth is a simple town that revolves around the Abyss, and those that delve deep into it. A woman on her first delve to the fourth layer finds herself brought deeper then she should be, and she might never come out again.But that is not a bad thing, for even the dawn, the future itself, can be found in the depths of the Abyss.
Relationships: Bondrewd (Made in Abyss)/Original Character
Comments: 14
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So of course I am a simp for Bondrewd, so I had to take matters into my own hand and write OC x Bondrewd fanfiction as there was like, none of it. I don't know how many will see this but man, I don't care. I love this dude.

Orth was a simple town in a way. It revolved around the Abyss, what came from the Abyss. And of course, those that went in. If you wanted to be important, you became a Delver. That was just how it was.

Arette was a girl born in Orth. She had ginger hair, freckled cheeks, and bright green eyes. These traits stayed with her through her childhood. Her father had been a delver, and her grandfather a man who sailed the seas and explored the surface. It seemed only natural that the woman follow in their footsteps.

Her mother however called her a fool. “You will only die alone”, she would say. Something terrible would eat her, and she would be left to rot like so many others. Only those truly in love with the abyss would live. Arette had to admit, she was not as obsessed with the Abyss as others might have been.

But she was also spiteful. And anyone who mocked her father’s feats, even her own mother, was not someone Arette would listen to.

She knew she would be something when she found her ‘signature artifact’. The whip sword. A whip that could be as sharp as a blade that could cut through stone and steel. Oh so many told her to sell it. But it was hers. The first find she didn't have to sell.

And so she kept it. She only got more skilled from there. After all, every delver that got anywhere, had an artifact to call their own. Of course skill mattered too, and Arette over time gained that in spades.

Until finally she reached the rank of a Moon Whistle. Her mother said it could only go down from there. Her brother congratulated her.

Arette prepared for her next descent. Ideally it would be her first delve into the fourth layer. If things went well. Hopefully she would find something interesting along the way.

The first and second layers had become second nature to her. She had been in them so many times. Still, she was cautious in the second layer. Only a fool would get cocky in the abyss.

She made her way to the Seeker’s Lookout in three days, and lingered to rest. There were a few other delvers there. Including a Black one who was coming back up. He saw her whistle and he grinned. “You going into the fourth layer?”

Arette nodded. “Yep. My first time. Any advice?”

“Don’t go.”

She gave him a look. “Why?” She doubted it was because she was a girl. Lyza and Ozen were women and both white whistles, “Is there an Orb Piercer making things difficult?”

“No.. Well, yes there is always one around. It's worse. I saw Bondrewd the Novel.”

All the other delvers grew silent. Another woman with a moon whistle around her neck spoke up. “You were on the same layer as him and you came back? Lucky you.”

Bondrewd the Novel. Any delver that was above a blue rank knew the kind of man he was. Only an insane man would choose to make the fifth layer his home. They knew how many skilled bounty hunters went down there and never returned. They knew he was a criminal who would do anything to fund his work. Be it illegally sell artifacts, or sell the drugs he made from testing on living people.

A man without morals or compassion. He sounded like a monster. But he was also one of the greatest white whistles to have ever lived, with his work benefiting many lives.

Arette had already come this far. Had she brought things to mine in the caverns of the third layer maybe she would have lingered there a few weeks. But her gear was chosen with an extended stay in the fourth layer in mind. “If he let you leave, he should not mind me dropping in to dip my toes.”

“Ah, I guess. Just be sure to yell ‘I’m not here to kill you’ if you see him.”

She had a feeling that would make anyone suspicious, so she took it as a joke. Arette finished recuperating, and made her way down into the third layer. This layer she was not as familiar with. She knew a few safe passages, and so she took those, hopeful nothing too dangerous had moved in.

It was luckily quite uneventful, so much so she took a day to pick at the cavern walls to look for artifacts. She found one, a small ornate and dirty bottle. She had no idea what it was, and figured it was best to leave experts to figure that out.

The trip was not fruitless then, even if she didn’t find anything else.

She was finally reaching the cup of giants a day later, she could see them, feel the heat of the steam. With her whip, she swung down the rest of the way, flicking her wrist to free it from the rock face.

It was so humid that it was a bit hard to breathe. She was sure to examine the area before she crouched down at the edge of the flat creeper and dipped her hands into the hot water, splashing it on her face.

Not refreshing per say, but a welcome action. It was like she was in a hot shower again. She didn’t linger long, least she increased her risk of running into an orb piercer.

Her luck though would run out.

She had found a flat-creeper that had something she could use her whip sword to get down to, and quickly bypass that particular section. But when she looked up from her observations, there was a damned Orb Piercer.

How could her luck go that bad that quickly? She did not move, but it definitely saw her, with how it was growling and puffed up. She slowly lifted her arm, whip in hand. Then slowly she stood.

It bristled more, and she swallowed. It was probably going to shoot its needles at her. She hoped her training would work. She had her brother pelt damned rocks at her until she could flick them out of the air with her whip.

It did as she expected, firing a volley. She flicked her wrist, and her whip cracked in front of her, slicing the needles and disrupting most of them. The rest she ducked out of the way. Another wrist flick, and she turned it blunt again, intending to crack it over the face.

It leapt back from her, growling again.

She wasn’t dead yet. She flicked again, cracking her whip. It backed away a few more feet and fired more needles, which she knocked away. It was like being a lion tamer almost. She cracked her whip, and it stepped back, growling louder and louder. If she could get it back far enough, she could make a jump for it.

Unless of course it lunged for her.

As if she jinxed herself, it spring forward, and she had to dash to the side, swinging her whip and making it a blade again. It dodged, and tried to lunge again, however, with a flick of her wrist, she changed the whips direction, too fast for the beast to fully react, allowing her to graze it.

She was sweating bullets now. Not just because of the steam. It was yowling, clearly pissed. It was now or never. She turned and lept off the flat creeper, swinging her whip to catch herself on an underhanging kenzan kuruza. She gripped as tightly as she could, wincing as her shoulders were yanked almost out of their sockets when she stopped falling.

“You were marvelous!”

Her grip slipped, startled by the sudden masculin voice, and she shrieked as she fell. She landed in a stagnant body of water below her on a rocky outcropping, and thankfully not in an immature flat-creeper. She swam to the surface, spitting the foul water in her mouth out and making for the shoreline.

She climbed out, her long ginger hair wrapped around her neck as she sputtered. She looked up, cursing. “Thanks, you prick. I lost my whip!” She yelled to whoever had said that to her.

A figure fell and landed on their feet before her, and she looked at their outstretched hand before anything else. Her whip coiled neatly in their grasp. “Oh… Thanks.” She mumbled, taking it in her hand, and looking up at the person who returned it to her.

She was met with a featureless helmet, a glowing purple light down the middle. She froze, eyes darting to their neck.

A white whistle, shaped like hands clasped in prayer.

She had just called Bondrewd the Novel a prick.

Before she could say anything he clapped slowly, head tilted. “As I said, marvelous! That relic of yours, truly a marvel. And how you use it!” he raised his hands in the air like he was praising the heavens. “So very few can make an Orb Piercer bleed.”

This was Bondrewd? Wanted criminal? Man without compassion and morals? It couldn’t be. He was far too… Nice sounding. She fumbled over her tongue a moment. “Thank you, sir.”

“How did you learn that? To knock them aside?”

“I… I had my brother throw rocks at me.”

He made a curious sound, looking up after a moment. Up above, jumping down to join them was the Orb Piercer, snarling as it closed in on them. He moved his arm, bent at the elbow. He fired a beam of light from it, and it struck the beast in the face, promptly burning a hole right through it.

He stepped aside, and it landed between them with a thud. It was as dead as dead could get.

Slowly, one by one, he picked off a few of the needles, placing them in a metal container. “Ahhh. A pity to destroy the head.”

Just one movement. One action and he had killed an Orb Piercer. She guessed that was to be expected from a White Whistle. Slowly she got to her feet, taking her pack off and looking inside. It all seemed fine. She was glad she had invested in a wax lined leather satchel for this delve.

Her skin was starting to itch, and she reached up and rubbed her arm, grimacing. She remembered her relic, and pulled it out. “Do you know what this is?”

Bondrewd looked up a moment, and she noticed he had a tail. It had to be an artifact of some kind. “It's a snuff bottle.”

She looked at him incredulously. “That's it?”

“It is a splendidly crafted one.” he resumed poking at the dead animal.

“Well this trip is going to be a bust.” She said, unwrapping her braid from around her neck and starting to wring it out.

“It might have something of value inside it.” Bondrewd pointed out, finishing up his poking, “Well it was splendid to meet you. But I must depart. Perhaps we will meet again before you depart for the surface.” He bowed to her before he turned and made his way down the outcropping.

Arette was itchy for a few more hours before it finally stopped. She set up a camp that she felt might have a good chance of having artifacts buried around it.

The days ticked by, and she picked away at the soil. She found a few things, a few boob stones, which despite their uselessness, were popular for whatever reason.

She started feeling ill four days in, and she swore she had something under her skin sometimes. She wondered if she was being affected by the curse, but it was impossible. She was hardly changing her elevation.

She also started to find it hard to breathe when she moved too much. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong, and she had no idea what it was. She sat before her fire, feeling like something was squirming under her skin in her left arm.

“My my my. So we do indeed meet again.”

She looked up, and Bondrewd was on the edge of the light of her fire. “Oh. Hello, sir.”

“My what a polite young lady you are. Very different from the one who called me… What was it?”

She grimaced. He remembered that then. “Prick, sir.”

“Are you unwell?” He sounded concerned. He stepped closer, and she scooted away from him, but he followed, ignorant of her body language as he grasped her head in his hands, his fingers prying her eye open. “What is the matter?”

“Its… I keep feeling like something is in my arm.”

He released her head, and held out his hand. After a moment she put her arm in his grasp. His gloved hand clamped over her wrist, and with a fast, rough motion, the other took her sleeve and ripped it open.

His helm turned downward, and he pressed a thumb to the inside of her elbow. After a moment she saw a vein pop up.

Or she thought it was one, until it started moving. She watched in horror as it wriggled, and Bondrewd made a sound like he was fascinated. “My my my my my. You are positively infested.”

Arette promptly fainted.

When she came too, she was looking up into more covered faces, their glowing helmets all looking down at her. She also realized she was naked. She panicked, and started to struggle. But they held her down. Whispering quietly that she should ‘behave’.

“Where am I?!” She shrieked, only to scream when one of them cut her arm open, watching as they sank tweezers into her skin and pulled out a long wriggling worm like thing from her arm. She could feel it coming out of her vein. It was the most disturbing feeling she had ever felt.

“Stop! Stop where am I, who are you!? Get off me!” She wrenched one of her legs free and kicked one in the head, making them stagger back.

She kept struggling, breathing so hard she started to have trouble catching her breath. Their hands were back on her, stronger than before, and whispered quietly that she was safe.

“If I am so safe then where am I!? Answer me!” She hyperventilated.

“You are in Ido Front” one said quietly, and she stared at them with wide eyes.

She was in the fifth layer? “I… No I can't be, I was in the fourth layer! I am not supposed to be this low!”

“I brought you here, my dear.”

Bondrewd’s voice cut through the commotion, his boots echoing on the floor. Arette turned her head and craned her neck, seeing him approach her. “I am so sorry for my Umbra Hand’s actions. They must have terrified you. But we have to work fast to save you.”

“Save me?”

“You have been infected with a parasite from the fourth layer.” Bondrewd said, leaning over her, his hand on her forehead. “They infest your veins and feed on your blood almost like leeches.”

Arette could barely breathe. “H-how?”

“I would imagine your fall into the stagnant pool did it.” He said it nonchalantly, “It's fascinating honestly, but this gives me an opportunity now.”

“I have devised a method on how to remove them. A cocktail of chemicals I have mixed myself. But I have never tested it. Would you let me… Attempt it on you? If successful, you live. If not, you die. But if you refuse you die regardless.”

She did not answer, grimacing when she swore she felt something squirm in her guts. “It also gives an opportunity to assist others who may face the same fate as you. So?”

He was asking a lot of her. But it was probably her only chance. “If it… Will keep me alive, and… help.” She said.

“Splendid. Gueira, prepare everything.” He stayed by her side as the others left, holding her hand and petting it. He offered her no words on that it would all be fine, which she was thankful for. Empty promises were worthless. Comfort meant more.

However she was still terrified. Not of the parasites, but suddenly of him. Now she was starting to see what the others meant.

After an hour, a few Umbra Hand’s returned. She was quickly moved to a room that stunk of old blood. She was strapped down to the table. Bondrewd pet her head again, before he took her arm in his hand, needle ready. “This should stop the pain.”

“We have not tested that thoroughly.” Gueira said calmly, but Bondrewd ignored him, looking down at Arette

“You would appreciate there being no pain, right?” he asked.

Pain? What pain? It was just drugs right? How could it cause pain? It was all happening so quickly, but then they were squirming in her guts again. She grimaced and only wanted it done. Arette nodded. “That would be preferable.”

“Then I shall use it.” He took a leather strap and offered it to her. After a moment she opened her mouth, and bit down on it. Finally, he slipped the needle in arm. She didn’t feel too different, and she wondered why she had to be strapped down.

He slid a larger needle into her arm, and put in an IV drip of some foul looking liquid that she averted her eyes from.

When he allowed it to start dripping into her arm, she finally understood what he meant by pain, and why she had been strapped down. She tensed up, like fire in her arm, and she could feel those things in veins starting to really move, thrash around like a worm if you poked it.

She bit on the leather strap screaming through her teeth as she started to try and instinctively curl into a ball.

“It doesn't appear to be dulling the pain yet.” Bondrewd said, sounding like he was talking about the weather.

“I told you it wasn’t properly tested yet. Humans are not Inbyo.”

“I thought it would be similar enough. They are primates after all.”

His words started to warp and sound weird, and soon, Arette was almost floating in nothing at all, only her thoughts, and eventually not even that.

Slowly, however, it came back.

Her thoughts came back first. She felt nothing at all. But she was thinking again. But slowly, muffled sounds could be heard, and she became aware that she was on something.

The muffled sounds soon became a voice. Bondrewd’s. He had taken notice of her awakening. “Ah she’s finally coming around. Tell me, what was the anesthesia like?”

She moved to get up, and found she was still strapped down to something, and not only that, she had something keeping her eyes closed. She felt weak all over, sick, and in pain too, like she had been punched repeatedly in her torso and limbs. “Ugh…”

“I would not move, it's only been a week.”

A week? She was out for a week? “What did you… Give me?”

“An enzyme of a fish native to the sea of corpses. I found it had anesthetic qualities and I wished to test it out. Supplies of ether are quite limited as you would imagine.”

She felt shaky all over, her muscles tense and shaking. “Ah… It felt.. Like I was in nothing at all.” Arette mumbled, “Just there, floating in a sea of nothing.”

“Hmm. Interesting. Well the extended unconsciousness is certainly not very agreeable, but it does work, wouldn’t you say?”

He pulled whatever was over her eyes off, and the light of his helmet made her squint. She was becoming more aware of things. One, she had something in her arm, dripping liquid into her veins. Two, a device strapped to her nethers, that was very uncomfortable. “Take these… off me…”

“Yes, yes of course. Seeing as you are awake you won’t need any of this now.”

She was moved to a much more comfortable location, a bed, and given a cocktail of drugs to make sure she slept. She was weary of them, but the pain in her body was making it hard to get comfortable. When she awoke, Bondrewd was by her bedside, reading.

She looked at him wearily. “Why are you here?” it was not meant to be rude, but he seemed to be unaffected by her tone.

“I have sent off a letter to Orth, saying you are alive.” he explained pleasantly, “I also have this for you.” He reached down to the floor, and pulled up a jar. “It is honey. Honey keeps very well, so it's one of the few… enjoyable rations, that we get down here. It is all for you. It has antibacterial properties and should help you a little.”

His generosity was surprising, considering the fact everyone was terrified of the man. Though he had used his unethical practices on her, he had been polite enough to at least ask. Speaking of which.

“You used me as a guinea pig.” She said, scowling at him.

“All for the sake of progress, I assure you.” He said, still cheerful, “And I must say, it was greatly beneficial. I can make a tidy profit on the enzyme once I figure out the proper dosage, and the chemicals to rid you of the parasites was successful. The fact you survived is the icing on the cake.”

Arette looked at him balefully. “I feel like I’ve been punched repeatedly in every bit of soft tissue I have.”

“A side effect of the drugs used to save you.” He opened the jar, and took a spoon from his coat pocket, swirling it inside it. He presented the honey laden spoon to her.

“It was all for the greater good of tomorrow. You have given that to many more people with your sacrifice. Doesn’t that make you proud?”

She humored him, opening her mouth and taking the honey. It was sweet and vaguely fruity. It coated her mouth thickly, almost too thick to swallow. She let it sit in her mouth for a minute, still glaring at him, before finally swallowing it all down. “Why are you here?” she repeated

“I wished to examine you to ensure you have no lingering side effects.” He got up, holding out both of his hands. “Up you get.”

“What?”

“You need to walk, least you get blood clots.”

He helped her to her feet, and led her to shuffle around the room. She humored his request, though her legs felt like they could barely hold her up, so her limbs shook like a newborn calf with every step.

“You seem to have severe muscle weakness. He observed, having her sit back down, “You should start working on them again by walking around thirty minutes a day.”

She paused a moment, considering the comment he said about her limbs. “You mentioned I made a sacrifice. What did you mean?”

He hummed. “This weakness of your limbs is a symptom. Yes you have been immobile for a week, but this level of weakness is more akin to someone who has not moved in well over a month. We already detected the weakness through your heart rhythm. Muscles in your limbs can be rebuilt easily enough with effort, but the heart is another matter. You might not recover fully.”

She felt hot tears flowing over her cheeks. That would ruin her career as a delver. Hell she might not even ever get out, with the stress the ascension could cause. “You bastard...” She hissed.

She was furious. He may have helped her, but he used her too.

She leaned away from him as he sat by her side, but he ignored it, taking her into his arms and embracing her. “Shhh. I know. Do not worry. What you lost, you lost so no one else can ever lose it again. So do not think of it as a sad thing. Think of it as almost like a blessing.”

She possibly could never delve again and possibly never get out of this cursed hole and it was a blessing? She understood what he meant in a way. He now better understood how the parasite infected the body. But she was permanently scarred from it all.

“Do you have no compassion? I may never delve again.” she took in a sharp shuddering breath in, and he pet her head. 

“Shhh. Lay down, take slow deep breaths” She did as he said, and he continued, “I do understand your pain. I do. A loss is still a loss. But I don’t believe they are things to mourn over when they are lost for a good cause.”

He took another needle from the table. “Here, for the pain. I mixed this up just for you so you can stay awake and move as you need to.”

Arette kept her arm away from him for a moment, but there was no doubt the pain was returning. And so despite everything she knew about him, she gave him her arm.

The injection was painless, and soon she felt warm and comfortable. In some ways he was nothing like what she expected, and in others he was everything they said he was. He sounded genuine when he comforted her, but there was no doubt he had used her to further his own research.

She glanced at the table, and saw some type four rations. She doubted what was left of her other rations were good any more. Perhaps the powdered coffee… Did he even bring her things?

She rolled over and fumbled for it, her arm shaking and barely able to move properly, but eventually she grabbed it and took a bite.

It tasted like a wall. She grimaced as she chewed, eyes darting to the honey. She reached for that next, almost knocking it over. Once she had it, she drizzling just a little over the top and then took another bite.

It now tasted like a sweet wall. But it tasted like something now she guessed. Would it kill them to put in a bit of salt? Salt was important for the body as much as protein and vitamin c.

A few days, a letter came for her, and a package. One of the other Umbra Hands presented it to her. She opened the package first, and was met with her grandfather’s old atlas that he had put together in his journeys. She ran her fingers over the leather, and then went for the letter.

“Who is it from?” He asked curiously.

“My brother.” Arette said, eyes darting over the paper. He had been worried for her, and was relieved she was alive. Their mother had apparently thrown a fit when she learned where she was.

“My mother wants to send someone down to ‘save me’ from Bondrewd.” Arette said flatly, rolling her eyes. She didn’t really need saving. She wasn’t a prisoner… Was she? SHe didn’t feel like one now despite the terrifying moments when she had first woken up.

“You’re mother sounds histrionic.” the man said, and Arette let out a sharp laugh that made her guts hurt.

“You have no idea. Every delve is going to be my last, she’s never going to see me again. Blah blah blah.” She folded the letter and set it carefully on the nightstand by her bed. “Guess she was right.”

She ran into Bondrewd in the hall a few days later on one of her short little shuffles around the halls, and he grabbed her hand suddenly. “Good good. I need you to help me.”

“Help you?” She asked.

“Yes, I am afraid my assistant has left Ido Front, and I need someone to help me. Tell me, do you like children? Do you enjoy being around them?”

“I mean, I sometimes help at the orphanage. It was pleasant enough.” Arette said.

“Excellent. Come with me then.” he fetched a wheelchair, and he pushed her down a hall she had never been before. He led her to a door, and after a grunt, he managed to turn the handle to open it.

The room was brightly lit and plush, full of toys and cushions. Sitting in a little group were several scrawny children, who turned to look at him.

“Mister Bondrewd!” They all got up and rushed to him, and he laughed as they all surrounded him, “Did you bring us anything?”

“Where is Nanachi?” another asked, “I wanna see Nanachi!”

He pet each of their heads. “I am afraid that Nanachi has departed. However, I have a new friend for you.”

He turned to her, and Arette looked at the children with horror. Why were they there? Children should not have been so far down. It would kill them if they tried to go up. Unless he-

She was pulled out of her thoughts when two of the children started fighting to get into her lap. Bondrewd quickly stepped in and shooed them away. “Be gentle with her, Arette here is a moon whistle who was injured. Do not be so rough.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” A little girl said, “I didn’t mean to be mean.”

Bondrewd pet her head assuringly, before addressing the rest of the children. “Arette is going to teach you all to read.” Bondrewd said, crouching down and pulling out a lollipop from his coat, offering it to a small boy. The boy took it eagerly, stuffing it in his mouth. “Then you can finally read the books I gave you.”

“Really? We are gonna learn to read?” They got behind her chair and pushed Arette to the small collection of books, and she could do nothing but do as was requested of her, all of the children fighting to sit closer to her.

“I will leave you to it then. Do behave for Arette, and remember. Be gentle with her.”

The door closed, and Arette was left with a task she had never attempted before. She had them fetch her a small chalkboard, and she began as simply as she could.

The alphabet.

Hours later, Bondrewd returned, and called one of them. “Noah, I need you to help me with something.”

The little boy who had gotten the lollipop got up, and rushed over to him, grabbing Bondrewd’s hand. Bondrewd lifted his arm, and allowed the boy to swing from his grip, and closed the door behind him.

She could hear the boy through the door. Bragging loudly how he could now spell his name. She went back to her work, though she could tell the children were getting restless, so it was probably time for a break.

It was nap time when Bodrewd returned, and to her relief, the boy was with him. Though Noah looked extremely unwell. Bodrewd laid the boy on the cushioned bench and covered him up with a blanket, petting his head.

“Children, do leave Noah alone. He’s not feeling well. Understand?” He looked at Arette, “I am afraid that is enough for today. Thank you for the help. Here, Gueira will wheel you back to your room. 

“I can get there myself. Besides I need to walk.” Arette stood and shuffled faster than she should have out of the room and past Gueira. She clutched her hands to her chest as she took deep breaths around the corner, leaning on the wall. He couldn’t possibly be-

“I think you are making a mistake letting her near the children.” 

She froze.

“Why do you think that, Gueira?”

“Women get irrational when it comes to children. You know it's true. Ozen and Lyza despise you.”

“Ozen despises me because Lyza does.”

He was, wasn’t he?

She followed him despite the growing weakness in her limbs, to a room lined with lights. He quietly examined them, but he seemed to already know she was there. “Do you need something?”

“What did you do to the boy?” Arette asked.

“His name is Noah, I would appreciate you to refer to him as such.” It was the first time he sounded annoyed, his tone sharp as he turned his helmet in her direction.

“What did you do to Noah?”

“I tested a drug on him. To see if it would raise his vitality. But it seems it's not ready yet.” Bondrewd dusted a few of the lights off, and went to some that were out, unscrewing them and replacing them. Only a few lit back up, and he made a note in a book of the ones that did not.

“He is a child, you bastard.” Arette hissed, and Bondrewd sighed, mumbling to himself.

“And? That child is helping me develop medicine that can save a delver too weak to move.” he closed the book and turned to her, stepping closer, “It's just like with you, Arette. His sacrifice will benefit the future.”

“What about his future? Does his future mean nothing to you?”

“It means everything to me.” Bondrewd assured, and Arette scowled at him.

“If it meant anything to you you would give him a future! Do you not care at all?!”

“Of course I care.” Bondrewd said, “But that does not exempt them from my research. How do you think they made penicillin, Arette? They tested it on people, just as I do. How is it no different than what they did?”

He held out his hands, his words gentle. “Arette, do not think that I don't care. I love those children. I want them to be happy. And they will be. When I am finished, they all will get to play in the garden.”

She looked at him incredulously. “The garden?”

“Yes, my miniature garden of dawn. They all go here and play.”

“So… So the children are alive still? When you finish?” Arette asked.

Bondrewd pointed to the lights in the wall “Every light is a life. As you can see, they are lit, yes?” He pointed to one, “This is Mitty’s light. She is with her friend Nanachi. Safe and sound. And this one is Eren. He’s in the garden with the others.”

The affection in his words was genuine. Like how her father used to speak of her. “You know all their names?”

“Of course, I even know their dreams. What kind of man would I be if i did not remember the names and dreams of the children under my care?” He grabbed her shoulders, and she stiffened. “What is but a moment of cruelty when they now live their lives, carefree, in the garden?”

She didn’t know what to think. Her eyes darted over the lights, every one with a label adorned with a number. This man was disgusting. His logic was almost inhuman, and yet he seemed to have compassion inside him.

“I supposed… If they are happy.” She said quietly, gaze cast downward. He set a hand on her head, ruffling her hair.

“You should go back to your room. You look pale. I think all this movement has gotten to you. If it upsets you so, I will not ask you to see them again. Perhaps you would prefer copying my notes on the wildlife of the abyss.”

“I guess I would prefer that.” She said, shuffling her way back to her room.

The excitement of that day had made her feverish, and so she was back to staying in her bed, sleeping most of the day. She looked to the door when it opened, a crescent shaped helmet poking in the room. “Bondrewd will be by later. He has some things he specially requested for you.”

“For me?”

“He figured you would be here for a while.” He slunk back out, the door closing behind him.

Great… Arette huffed, rolling over and pushing herself up. Even though she felt like crap, she had to begin her shuffle up and down the halls. She made it to six laps around a particular hallway this time. She was able to walk longer now, and her motor skills were normalizing again. She guessed that was a good thing.

When she returned to her room, several boxes she recognized as clothing boxes were on her bed. So he bought her clothes. She sighed and lifted the lid on one, and was met with a dress that was clearly not new.

It was one of her dresses from back home. All of the clothes were her own. Every item was from her place. It was simply not new things. He brought her home to her. A photo of her father and mother, her quilts and some of her books.

She clutched the quilt her grandma had made the day she had been born to her face and smelled. It smelled like home.

She turned as Bondrewd entered. “Are you pleased?” he asked.

“You brought home to me…” She said quietly.

“Of course. It will help you recover better, stave off depression, and make you comfortable. I want you to be as healthy as can be, so you can resume your journeys.” he pointed at her, voice warm, “You have talent, and the potential to be a white whistle.”

He was strangely endearing at the moment. She looked away. “Well, probably not any more.” She lay her quilts on the bed.

“Do not give up so easily, my dear.” He set his hand on her head, ruffling her hair. That seemed to be his main way to show comfort and affection. “Do not worry about putting this all away. Set up your books and photos and I will put away everything else.”

He left out one of her night gowns and put her clothes away, and finished laying out her quilts. All that was left was one box, which he presented to her. “This is for you.”

She opened the box, and there inside, was a black whistle. She looked up at him, confused.

“If you are to remain here, you must have this. Take it.”

He left then. And Arette changed into her own nightgown on top. It smelled so comforting and was so soft. She took one of her favorite books, and got back into the bed.

She put the black whistle into her bed side table.

In time with her growing strength, Bondrewd sent her to do various tasks around Ido Front. She saw very little of Bondrewd in this time, but he did on occasion stop by to give her more things to do, or to ask her questions about her exploits.

He actually made her feel like she had accomplished things. Her mother’s nagging had always worn her down a little and made her think less of herself. 

She was changing too, she noticed. She looked in the mirror of the bathroom, and touched her ginger hair. Ever since her first trips into the third layer, her hair had begun to turn blond. Thick streaks of it. But now her hair was starting to curl too. She looked at the Umbra Hand who was behind her, no doubt waiting for his turn to use the lavatory.

“My hair is curling.”

“You have been moving much more.” He explained, sounding impatient, “You might not be going up high enough for the Curse to cause you harm, but it has started to affect you.”

So it was like with Lyza then. She wondered where the woman was. Only a week before Arette had gone down to her first delve into the fourth layer, Lyza had taken her last dive.

She had been so very young… None of the other white whistles still alive had taken it yet. Ozen and Wakuma had been delving for decades and were still content to remain above the sixth layer.

The man cleared his throat, and Arette conceded and let him have his turn.

As she walked down the hall, there was a sudden commotion, all of the Umbra Hands suddenly converging at once in the halls and making their way outside of the base into the warehouse for receiving shipments from the surface. It was like they were all drones.

She followed them, and suddenly the drone-like behavior vanished and they began to work individually again. She could then see why they had come all at once.

The machines for the pulleys were smoking, and the carriage was hanging a few feet above the ground outside, dangling haphazardly in the air.

“Get it down on the ground!” One shouted, and after a few good kicks to the pulley wheels, it fell the remaining feet, crunching slightly from its weight.

Arette noticed Gueira standing still in the middle of the warehouse, “What happened?”

“The carriage malfunctioned as it was being attacked by the beasts of the abyss. Erezon is the only one who made it down.” Gueira turned his head to an umbra hand who was writhing on the ground off to the side, delirious from the curse and being ignored entirely.

“It fell, and then raised rapidly in our attempts to stop from being destroyed.” Gueira explained, “I do not expect him to make it.”

“You're just letting him writhe around and not even help him?!” Arette spat, and went to him, crouching down and grabbing his shoulder.“Sir! Sir can you hear me?”

“She is inside! She is inside! She is inside!” The man was tearing at his mask as he rambled, oblivious that all of his fingers and both of his arms were clearly broken.

“Who is inside?”

“The man is delirious. I would not be shocked if he got a taste of the fourth layer’s curse as well. Let him be.”

Arette ignored Gueira and grabbed the man’s mask and pulled it off. “Look at me. Can you still hear me? Who is inside? Inside where?”

His bulging eyes looked at her, blood flowing out of his mouth as he destroyed his own teeth. “She is inside. She is inside. Screaming. She is screaming.”

“Gueira, sir! There is a child inside of the carriage!”

Everyone froze and turned, Arette standing back up shakily and watching as a bloody child was pulled from the carriage. Limp in the man’s arms. She could just see her white hair soaked in blood.

“What… What do you mean? We had no- There should be no children in there.”

“Well there is one, sir. What do we do with her? She's still breathing.”

Gueira paused a long moment. “Give her to me. I will take care of her and see what can be done.” Gueira took the girl from the other, “And get that woman out of here. She is useless in this situation.”

“I am not useless I can-” she was cut off as two Umbra Hand’s grabbed Arette by the arms and dragged her back inside and took her back to her room.

Over the next few days, the situation became clear. The girl had been Erezon’s daughter. He had sent for her and brought to Orth, and then snuck her onto the carriage.

Erezon himself had died not long after, driven into trauma induced shock due to how severely he had injured himself. What happened to the girl, only Gueira and Bondrewd knew.

Bondrewd was truly a ghost in the next few weeks. He came to see Arette once to give her his notes to copy, and then vanished again. Gueira was equally absent.

Sometimes at night Arette swore she heard a little girl screaming. But soon even that stopped.

Two months after the accident, Arette was working on the notes he had given her, when Bondrewd suddenly opened the door, making her jump. “Arette, I have someone I want you to meet.”

“Yes, Bondrewd?”

He sounded quite excited ans she noted a little lump hidden under his coat, and she was instantly curious. “What do you have under there?”

He sat on the bed, and pulled the coat back. A cry, shrill and terrified issued from it, and he shushed whatever it was. “Now now Prushka, behave.”

She watched as he pulled a little pale arm out from the darkness of his coat, and soon, a wide eyed, terrified child soon followed it. He cradled her, and she stared vacantly over his shoulder.

It was the girl from the accident two months ago.

Arette looked at him cautiously, weary of his intentions. What was he thinking? Was this what had occupied his time? “What are you doing with her?”

“You ask that like you think I am going to hurt her.” Bondrewd said, lifting Prushka in the air a moment, “She is my little flower, and I am her Papa. Isn’t that right?”

The girl only yammered in response, her arms wrapping back around his neck as he settled her back against him.

He… He adopted a child? That was not something she expected. After a few long moments, Arette stood from the desk and joined him on the bed. “Her name is Prushka?”

“Yes, I named her that. I am afraid that she has lost all sense of who she was. She is effectively an infant again, but she is too traumatized to start recovering what she has lost.” He pulled her away from him, and the damaged child let out a screech. “Here, Prushka, let momma hold you too.”

Prushka kicked a few times, but after a moment of being put into Arette’s lap, she turned and sank her face into the woman’s chest, little fingers gripping the fabric of her dress. “Ma… ma…” 

Arette felt instant pity for the girl. She set a gentle hand on the girl's back, and she flinched from the touch.

She looked up at the man, narrowing her green eyes at him. “You said I was ‘momma’?”

“Ah, Did I?” Bondrewd tilted his head back, “Forgive me, it must have slipped.”

Arette shifted awkwardly, the girl whimpering from the movement. Bondrewed leaned over, and took one of Prushka’s tiny hands, the girl turning just a little to look at him with her wide eyes, “Such a beautiful child. She has known true suffering. A child that cursed life itself, is truly something special. She will do amazing things. I am sure.”

Arette watched him, and looked at the tiny hand that gripped his fingers so tightly her knuckles were white.

Prushka hid under the covers of the bed, her arms clinging to her leg as Arette settled for the night. The girl seemed to enjoy the dark. She moved to get up to pee, and the girl screamed, clutching her leg tightly.

So Arette took her with her.

When she awoke in the morning, Prushka had hidden between the wall and the dresser. She was calm there it seemed, and so Arette let her remain, though she put a pillow in there. “Here. To sit on, Prushka.”

The girl looked at her with her wide vacant eyes, but her little hands grasped the pillow and pulled it in, shoving her face in it.

Prushka did not improve until Brondrewd brought her a pet a month later. A meinastilim. It was an adorable little creature, which Prushka showed to her as she hid under the bed covers.

“Meinya.” She said quietly. “Meinya, momma.”

“Meinya. What a sweet name. It's perfect.” She slid her hand closer to Prushka, and the girl slid her own hand out and touched her fingers. The pity in that instant became love, she set her hand on the girls white hair and gave her a kiss on the forehead. 

Prushka slept under the covers again that night, and Arette looked up at Bondrewd when he entered to check on her. The woman closed her book, and looked at him with intensity. “If something happens to this girl. I will kill you.”

He tilted his head. “My my my. Gueira was right. You are not her mother, not even through marriage to me, and yet you would kill for her..” he said, tone bordering on worshipful, “If she ever is harmed, I welcome you to do so. It would be marvelous I think.”

Of course he would think that. “You are so strange.” she sighed.

Time was just as strange in this place. Arette always knew that. Prushka grew regardless of how weirdly time seemed to flow. She grew from a scrawny quiet four year old to a lively excitable six. She had never stopped calling Arette momma, no matter what anyone said.

She might have well been, at the end of the day.

Bondrewd proved to be an excellent father. Prushka was turning out to be well mannered, and intelligent. Not to mention happy. His logic was inhuman, his crimes inumerable, and yet indeed, his heart loved deeply.

She had stopped fearing him, and had… Grown to care about him. She was like her mother now. Worrying if he would ever return when he left.

One day, as she drew with Prushka, Bondrewd came to see her. “It is time, Arette. We are going to see if there is any lingering damage to your heart. You will be doing a ‘stress test’ outside”

“Will momma be okay out there?” Prushka asked.

“Your momma is a black whistle, Prushka. Were you not aware?”

Prushka looked to Arette, her red eyes wide in awe. “Really momma? So you are as strong as Bido?”

Arette smiled wearily at Prushka. “I really am only a Moon Whistle. They just sent me a black one so I could stay down here.”

Bondrewd scoffed. “Your mother faced an Orb Piercer and escaped unharmed. She might as well have earned that through hard work and not a technicality.”

Arette was geared up simply. They were not fighting. She was simply going to walk and jog along the edge of the sea that surrounded Ido Front, with Gueira and Bido accompanying her to observe with artifacts that apparently could monitor her various life signs and a headset for her to listen to him give orders.

Gueira sat patiently as she began, Bido standing guard. Walking first. So far so good. She did that for a few minutes, until Gueira spoke. 

“Turn around and head back, but at a brisk walk.”

She did as he asked, and noted why he had told her turn. She had walked quite far. Again, it didn't seem too bad. She was panting now but that was normal. She had not walked like this in a while.

She made it past him, and kept going. His voice crackled into her ear. “Jog now.”

She started jogging, her chest starting to feel tight. It was hard to keep her breathing steady.

“Turn back.” She turned, and kept jogging. She could see him steadily going closer, but then her vision got spotty, and suddenly it was all black.

She woke up in the mud of the shore, Gueira leaning over her. “I… Take it fainting is not normal.”

“No. Your blood pressure dropped.”

Arette rested her arm on her forehead. “So I guess I failed the test.”

“Indeed.” He took her arm and pulled her back to her feet, and helped her back to the base, Bido trailing behind them.

She bathed, and settled in bed. She felt a bit shaky now, and so decided to take a nap. When she woke, Bondrewd was by her bedside.

Arette cracked a joke. “Tell me the bad news, doc.”

Bodrewd chuckled, interlacing his fingers together, much like the whistle around his neck. “You managed to regain your strength in you limbs. But your heart is another matter. I don’t think you will be able to ascend to the surface without the assistance of an artifact, especially not beyond the fourth. While the fifth layer’s curse is devastating, it is not particularly stressful. But the agony of the fourth.... The stress could kill you.”

Bad news, but not devastating. “Even if I do get something to help me up, I do not think I would want to go. The surface doesn't feel like home anymore, even if I do miss it sometimes.” Arette said, avoiding looking at Bondrewd.

His head quirked. “Is that so?”

She could feel that he was looking at her intensely. She however continued to avoid his gaze.

Suddenly he moved, setting himself on the side of the bed. “Ah! I see, I see. How marvelous!” he leaned in very close, the light of his mask casting a purple glow onto her face. “You love me, don’t you?”

She flushed, finally looking at him. Arette opened her mouth but she simply stumbled over her words, surprised and caught off guard by how observant a man as obsessed as he was. She was certain she would have had to say it to him flat out eventually, but he caught the first subtle indirect confession she gave him.

“Well then there is only one thing to do then.” He slid off the bed, setting himself on a knee and taking her hand. 

She balked at him. He wasn’t… Surely he wasn’t going to-

“We must marry immediately. Be my wife, and be Prushka’s mother, so we may all be together in the face of the future!”

She finally managed to find her voice. “Are you insane?”

“Insanely in love.” He said, lifting her hand and pressing his mask to it, where his mouth would be. He looked back up at her, her hand grasped in both of his. “My dearest Arette, who has helped me and survived. Marry me. Together we can do more incredible things.”

She could almost hear her mother nagging her. How she would be an idiot to say yes, like how she said yes to marrying her father. Only a fool married a high ranking Delver who was obsessed with the Abyss.

All of that was true, but she nodded anyway. “Yes. Yes I will marry you.” Bondrewd yanked the blankets off her, scooping her up in his arms. “Wait what are you doing?” The sudden movement made her shaky, her hands grasping his coat.

“Why, taking you to the Umbra Hands so they may wed us!” he sounded excited, setting her on her wobbly legs as he turned the door hatch and opened it. He held it open with his foot, and picked her back up.

They were married within minutes, and Arette was left shaky and dizzy from being moved around so much. She sat at a desk, shakily writing a letter for the surface, directed at her brother. Bondrewd assured that it would get back to the surface when a new shipment of supplies came in a week. Once she finished, he set her back into the bed, his gloved hand petting her sweaty forehead until she fell asleep.

When she woke up, Bondrewd had gone. She inquired to Gueira where he went.

“He went into the sixth layer.”

Her heart almost stopped. She clutched her chest. “We just married, and he took his final dive?” She asked, on the verge of tears.

For once Gueira was not calm. He quickly kneeled by her bed and motioned for her to calm down. “Shh. Shh. Oh please don’t start crying. He’s done this before. I assure you he’s returning.”

“What do you mean he’s done this before?!” Arette exclaimed, “You die when you come up from the sixth layer!”

“He is coming back. I promise. He is returning. Trust me. Just don’t tell Prushka where he is. Alright? She will get ideas. You know how she is.”

Arette sobbed for a good few minutes, Gueira sitting by the bed helplessly. The man was useless it seemed in emotional situations. But he was an honest man. She had to have faith that Bondrewd would return.

But she worried still. Far more than usual, she twisted her hair nervously, but did her best to seem normal for Prushka, who had come to keep her company.

“I'm so happy that you and papa married, I was wondering why you weren't.” Prushka said, spinning around in a circle, Meinya remaining on her head despite it. “Did you wear a dress? Suumama says the girls wear pretty dresses when they marry.”

“Your father didn’t give me time to wear a wedding gown.” Arette sighed, holding her cheek and chuckling when Prushka made herself so dizzy she stumbled.

“Where is papa?” Prushka asked.

“He… Went up to the fourth layer.” Arette lied, and Prushka climbed up onto the bed, burying her face in Meinya’s fur

“I hope I can see the fourth layer one day.” She sighed wistfully.

Arette completely recovered from her stress test a few days later, and she set about getting everything back in order despite her worry, taking a shower and washing her hair, and putting it back in the braid. It was now down to her lower back, and the ends were curling heavily.

She slipped back into the room unnoticed by anyone else, stopping when she turned from closing the door.

Bondrewd was sitting by the bed in the chair. He turned to look at her, the tail he sometimes hade waging like a dog. Had it always done that? ‘Ah, good. You are better.”

Arette practically jumped on him, in his lap as she sobbed and held his head in her hands. “You're here?!”

“Of course I am here.” Bondrewd said, “Why would I not be?”

“Gueira said you went into the sixth layer. How? How did you do it? Oh my god I was so worried.” She leaned in and kissed all over the face of his helmet, and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I have ways.” he said cryptically.

He let her cry, and finally she calmed down, sagging in his arms, her back to his chest as he held her to him, his head resting on her shoulder.

“When did you get back?” Arette asked, adjusting the towel a bit. 

“An hour ago. I traded for a few artifacts that caught my eye.”

Traded? What? That implied someone, or several someones lived down there. “You traded with who?”

Bondrewd ignored her question, his helmeted head pressing to her neck. “I love you.” he said it wistfully and sincerely.

She rolled her eyes. Fine. He could keep his secrets. She sighed. Bondrewd was truly a strange man that she sometimes did not know what to think of. But she did know one thing for certain.

“I love you as well.” Arette said, shifting as Bondrewd did something she had not expected at all.

He moved his hands and took her towel, and pulled it open. One of his hands grasped a breast, while the other pressed delicately onto her stomach.

He had never stricken her as a man capable of sensual desire. He had a desire for knowledge and the mystery of the abyss. But this? Not once had he ever struck her as such.

He continued to nuzzle the back of her neck, gloved fingers working her nipple between them, the hand on her stomach inching lower. 

“We never got to consummate our love.” he said quietly, “You are better now yes? So may we?”

Arette sighed. She would be lying if she said the hand on her breast didn't feel good. But she wondered if he actually did. “I would not mind at all. But do you want to?” 

“I will admit, I have never done it. I want to see. To know.” Bondrewd had that excited tone again, joyful at the idea of learning about this level of intimacy. She could not even consider being annoyed.

His fingers slid between her thighs, fingers finding her clit instantly. She made a little sound, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. “You seem to know a lot for someone who never did it.”

“I have ways of knowing.” he stood then, lifting her up with him. He dropped her onto the bed, having her turn over to face him. He lay over her, his covered face pressing into her neck. His fingers worked her clit more, before he lowered them a bit more.

“W-wait your gloves, shouldn’t you-” he pushed his fingers inside her despite the slight protesting from her. It felt strange, not like anything she had felt there before. His thumb pushed to her clit, and he began to finger her, moving them up and down, slow at first.

She covered her mouth, and felt her whole body heat up. He did have ways knowing apparently. His thumb moved back and forth, the texture of the leather not hurting, but adding something she had never felt before. She gasped, and he hummed thoughtfully.

“That is a beautiful sound.” he said, voice affectionate as he moved his fingers faster, his other hand moving to grasp her hip. “Make it again.”

He demanded it, and with the faster movement, Arette could not refuse, She gasped again, biting her lip as the hand on her hip moved to rest on her pubic bone and pushed down. She moaned softly, head falling back on the mattress as her legs clamped around his hand.

“It feels good?” His voice was a little lower, a little rougher, and the hand on her hip moved yet again, this time to grab her jaw. He looked at her, she was sure he was. She could feel his eyes on her. Her face grew hot and her muscles fluttered around his fingers.

“Y-yes.”

“Fascinating.” he said, hand letting her jaw go to slowly drag down her neck, chest, down to her thigh, which he pushed aside. He slunk down, and she covered her face with her hands in embarrassment as he removed his fingers and used his thumbs to spread her open.

“So wet…” His fingers went to her clit, and he rubbed it quickly, “Don’t push your legs together, I want to see.”

Her arms covered her face. It did not help that he was speaking. Her breathing picked up, and her legs tensed. “More pressure.” She gasped, and his finger pushed down more, making her moan low in her throat.

Her body gave a little jolt as she came, her muscles pulsing. Bondrewd spread her wider. “My my my….” He stood back up, “Hold your legs to your chest.”

Arette let out a shuddering breath. “You don't want to move on yet?” She asked breathlessly, doing as he asked, her face still hot with embarrassment.

“I want to understand how it all works.” Bondrewd said, slipping two fingers back inside her. He curled them a few times, before he began moving them up and down.

Arette gasped, her toes curling, “This is not an experiment, ah- its bonding moment. It.. Its-”

“Spiritual. Yes. Humans put value on this action, because what it does is essential to the continued existence of us as a species.” He leaned over her, the fingers of his other hand taking her chin, his thumb on her lip, “What this makes is the future. And that is beautiful don’t you think? I want to savor the moment, for as long as I can.”

Leave it to him to make sex sound techical and yet also poetic. Her breath hitched, her stomach coiling again. However he withdrew his fingers before she could get too close, though a thumb remained on her clitoris, pressing on it as his other hand moved to his pants, “Do you still wish to continue? You seem upset.”

“You are embarrassing and infuriating.” Arette grumbled, letting her legs go, lifting them to wrap around his hips, her heels resting on the base of the tail.

“Embarrassing... I think that is a new one.” Bondrewd said, finishing undoing his belt.

It was the most skin she had ever seen him expose. She used her legs to pull him closer, and he took himself in hand, holding him in place as he slipped inside her.

His shoulders lifted a bit, his hands grabbing her hips. “Oh.” He pushed his way in suddenly, making her squeak. His head fell back slightly, and he sighed. “Marvelous.”

He started thrusting, his hands gripping her hips tightly. Arette took his wrists in her hands, soft moans leaving her mouth. “Ah, harder. Go harder.” her head fell back as he compiled, her hands sliding up to rest on his arms. She looked at him lovingly after a few moments.

“Hold me, won’t you?”

He gathered her up in his arms, and he pushed her father up on the bed, the face of his helmet pressed to her neck as he kept thrusting. The angle changed, and he stroked her deeply, making her let out a shuddering moan. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing the side of his helmet as the tightness in her belly started to grow again.

She squeezed him tightly in her arms, her body shaking as she came again. Bondrewd let out a strangled grunt, his hips giving a few final jerks before he totally relaxed, his breathing slow and deep.

“My my my… I think I understand a little better now.” He pushed his head more into her neck, his hands moving to grasp her breasts, giving them a squeeze. He pulled away from her, and pressed his forehead to hers, the glow of his helmet close enough that she could feel the gentle heat from it.

She kissed him where his nose would be. “I am glad you do.” She relaxed into the mattress as he withdrew, and Bondrewd remained where he was. Caging her with his body, holding her close.

It was as close to bliss that Arette had ever been.

The next carriage run to the surface came back with another letter from her brother, congratulating her on her marriage. There was also a letter from her mother for once, and though it congratulated her as well, it was also a bit hostile. 

_Its tradition to marry in our grandmother’s grandmother’s wedding dress, I am disappointed that you did not inform us in time to send it down._

Arette sighed. She would have done that, had she been given time, though when she thought about it, a marriage at Ido Front didn't seem to suit a wedding gown. She crumpled the note and threw it away, but her brother’s letter she put in the drawer with the others.

Prushka was in a pouty mood. Which was unlike her. She scribbled on her paper, frowning as she practiced her writing. Arette set a hand on her back, concerned. “Why are you so upset Prushka?”

“I saw kids like me, Momma.” Prushka huffed angrily, “I wanted to play with them, but Papa said no.”

Arette froze, slowly standing straight. She had almost forgotten about that part of him. She however knew there was nothing to be done. He would do whatever it was he did, no matter what she said.

It still did not stop her from freezing when she saw the little girl sitting on a gurney in one of the medical rooms when she came to make sure Bondrewd remembered to eat.

“Who is this?” Arette asked him, setting the ration by him as he prepared a few things. She recognized some of them. Needles from an Orb Piercer.

“This is Sumiko.” Bondrewd said, “She wants to be a doctor when she grows up. Say hello to my wife, Sumiko.”

Sumiko stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry, breaking out into giggles shortly afterwards.

Arette was already surmising his intention. Judging by the bottles he had, he was mixing a crude antivenom. She looked at the girl briefly before she leaned in close to Bondrewd.

“Test it on me.” Arette whispered.

Bondrewd stopped working on mixing the concoction. “Pardon?”

“You heard me. Leave that child alone and use it on me.”

“Oh my Arette… Such altruism.” He said it with revelry and genuine praise, he turned to her and held out his arms, “So selfless you are my love.” He embraced her, and she embraced him back after a moment.

He pulled away, fingers brushing her cheek. “Your heart is big. If that is what you want. I will do as you wish. But please know, it will be agony, and it may aggravate your condition.”

“Just send the girl to play in the garden with the others. That is all I ask of you.”

He chuckled. “Of course. Gueira, take her back to her room. Little Sumiko, you will not need any shots it seems.”

“Oh really? Good! I hate needles.” The girl got off the chair and skipped to Gueira, taking his hand, “See you later Mister Bondrewd.”

Bondrewd waved to her, chuckling softly. He then turned to Arette. “She will enjoy the garden. She will have so many friends to play with.” He took the Orb Piercer needle from the tray, and took her arm in his hand.

“You truly are marvelous.” He stabbed it into her arm, and Arette winced, almost instantly it started to burn. She watched as he then took the needle with the antivenom he created, injecting it into her arm next.

He set her down in the chair, holding her head to his torso as he ran his fingers through her curled ginger hair. As the seconds turned into minutes, the burning became itching, her heart began to race, and she felt very heavy and dizzy. She leaned on him heavily, shakily grabbing his coat.

Her fingers were looking very… Fat.

Her vision was getting spotty, and soon, her head felt so light, she could not even keep her eyes open.

Bondrewd felt her sag against them, and he pulled away. Instantly he saw that it was not the reaction he desired. Her arm was swelling, which was normal, but her skin was getting clammy.

For all his tests, he could not account for an allergic reaction. He lifted Arette into his arms, cradling her as he made his way out of the laboratory, and back to their room. “Gyarike, I need you to go into the stores of adrenaline.”

“Yes, sir.” He said, hurrying to the medical supplies.

He set her on the bed, propping her up on the pillows so she was sitting up, keeping the arm below her heart. He pet her clammy face, noting that her breathing was getting labored. Anaphylactic shock for certain. “My my my… How interesting. It seems you are allergic to Orb Piercer Venom, my dearest.” he pinched her cheek. He loosened her leather cincher to let her breath better, turning as Gyarike entered. “Did we have it?”

“We did sir.” 

“Good good good. Give it here.” he took the bottle and the offered needle, drawing a dosage. He pulled up her dress, exposing her thigh, and slipped the needle in. “How much do we have left?”

“Five doses.”

“Ahh, wonderful. Get me one more, as a precaution. She may react again.”

“Will the missus be alright?”

Bondrewd pulled her dress back down, rubbing her thigh. “I do not know. Her heart is weak, and with the poison and the anaphylactic shock… It will be a delicate few days. A pity if she were to pass from this. I have come to enjoy her company.”

Bondrewd turned to see Gueira back at the door. “How is little Sumiko?”

“In her room playing with the dolls. Is it a good idea to just send her to the garden? Perhaps a cartridge would suit her better.”

Bondrewd set the needle back on the tray that Gyarike still held in his hands. “Sumiko is ill suited to be a cartridge. It’s why I was using her for the antivenom. Now then, stay with Arette. I must prepare for Sumiko’s descent into the garden. I hope it is successful.”

Gueira grumbled about wasted resources, and Bondrewd understood, of corse he did. But it was only fair he did as Arette wished, considering her condition could be fatal.

He had not been to the curse chambers above the garden in a long time. Some of the equipment would no doubt need adjustments. He began the work himself, turning his head when the door was pushed open.

Little Prushka poked her head in, Meinya under an arm. “Papa, there you are!” She trotted in, her little feet slapping on the floor, “Papa play with me won’t you? I can’t find Gueira anywhere.”

“Gueira is with momma, Prushka. He’s taking care of her.”

“What is wrong with momma?” she put her hands over her chest. “Is her heart not working well again?”

“No, she is simply sick.”

“Can I see her, Papa?” Prushka asked, tugging on his coat.

Bondrewd twisted a few knobs on the machine, adjusting the pressure so the elevators would not drop too quickly. “Like I said, momma is not well. I was testing a new Medicine on her and it made her very sick.”

Prushka leaned on his coat, and put most of her weight on it, hanging and swinging with the movements he made. “I can make her feel better.”

Bondrewd chuckled softly, setting his hand on her head. “Yes I suppose you could. If she wants to see you when she wakes up, you can go see her.”

Prushka made a little happy sound, setting her feet back on the floor. “What were you testing papa?”

“An antivenom. She was allergic to it unfortunately” Bondrewd sighed, “I will have to find someone else to test the antivenom on. She is ill suited for it.”

Prushka pointed to herself. “What about me? I can do it.”

Bondrewd laughed. “Oh heavens no. I will find someone else and not as precious as my dear Prushka.” he turned to her and crouched down, pinching her cheek, “Little Prushka, always so eager to help. What a wonderful lady you will grow into.”

Prushka smiled, squishing Meinya to her chest who mewled. “May i take some of your pencils and draw for momma?”

He ruffled her white hair. “Of course. Your momma will appreciate that. She will recover even faster from your love! I am sure.” He watched Prushka run off, giving a final soft wistful sigh before he stood and resumed his work.

Prushka made sure to make the drawing the best she had ever done. A family portrait. Herself, momma, papa, and of course Meinya. Once every line was perfect, she got her crayons. She rarely used them as she knew papa rarely got such supplies, but this drawing required something special.

She was meticulous, and soon, she had the perfect drawing. She held it up. “Look Meinya! It's perfect right?”

“Myyaaa.” it mewled in reply, its fluffy wings fluttering a little. 

“Hmmm. You are right! We need flowers too!” She trotted out of the room, looking around everywhere for someone to help her. She spotted Bido, grinning. “Bido, bido! Do something for me pretty please?”

He turned to her. “Yes?”

“I need flowers for momma! Get some eternal fortunes for me?”

He set his hand on her head. “Alright… Go put on your boots and coat.”

He was talking slow again. Sometimes the others did that. Talked so slow. That meant he was going to walk slow too. However, she could hardly be angry. “Wha? I am going too?!” She jumped up and down, turning and running to her room to get her things on.

Once Prushka had her coat and her boots on, Meinya settled on her head, she hurried out of the door to where she left Bido.

Only her Papa was there. “Papa? Where is Bido?”

Her papa’s tail, which he sometimes had and sometimes didn’t, waved lazily behind him. “Bido told me what the two of you were going to do. And I realized I should be the one to take you outside on your first adventure for treasure.”

He bent down and picked her up, and set her on his shoulders. She rested her head on his helm, giving the metal a kiss. Her father walked carefully down the coastline of the sea of corpses.

Bondrewd stopped from time to time to point a few things out to her. A fish dead on the shore and how it was safe to eat if she needed to. A crystal formation that he thought looked like a horse, though Prushka didn't know what a horse was..

“Ahh, here we are. I knew there was a patch of them growing here.” Bondrewd kneeled and Prushka slid off his back, running to the field of flowers. She sank to her knees and started looking for the perfect ones to use for her gift. He joined her, watching her carefully select them.

“Do you know how to make a daisy chain, Prushka?”

Prushka looked up at her papa. “What is a daisy?”

Bondrewd chuckled. “It’s a flower from the surface. It is quite plain, by flower standards, But it has its charm.” Prushka watched him pick a few flowers, setting them in his lap. Then he began to link them together. After a minute he finished, and held up a circle of flowers, setting it on his head.

“You made a crown of flowers!” Prushka exclaimed, “Me too! Make one for me!”

She continued to pick flowers as her papa made one for her too. “Where did you learn to make these?”

“A little girl named Ilim made them when I brought her and other children flowers one day.” Bondrewd said fondly, “She made them all into flower crowns for the others. I sat and watched.”

“Is Ilim still here? I want to meet her.” Prushka declared, looking over her shoulder at Bondrewd.

“I am afraid that Ilim left Ido Front some time ago.” Bondrewd lifted the crown up, and set it on her head, “There. You look adorable.”

Prushka crawled over to the edge of the water, looking at her rippled reflection. She looked up at her papa and smiled. “Thank you papa! It's beautiful.”

They made their way back, and Bondrewd opened the door to his and momma’s room

“How is she, Gueira?”

“Her breathing and blood pressure has improved. Her arm has started to discolor from the venom however.”

Bondrewd picked Prushka up, and set her on the edge of the bed. Her smile fell as she saw her momma. Her arm was huge and purple, and her face puffy.

“This is what happens when someone is allergic to medicine, Prushka.” Bondrewd explained, “It is called anaphylactic shock. It's why your momma’s face is so puffy. Before this, she had trouble breathing and her blood pressure dropped.”

“And her arm?”

“A reaction to the Orb Piercer venom. We gave her a shot of adrenaline, and it has stopped the worst of the reaction. But she still has to contend with the chemicals in her body. She is very weak, and she could very well die. So please, do not bother her, and let her sleep. Understand?”

Prushka nodded, her eyes starting to well with tears.

“You are making her cry.” Gueira observed, and Bondrewd turned Prushka around and held her close.

“Shhhh. No crying, you will wake Momma up. Be a good girl for Papa, okay?” Prushka nodded into his chest, and her papa rubbed her back. “Give the flowers to Gueira, he will put them in water and plant food so they will be all nice and pretty for her when she wakes up.

She gave them to Gueira, and after a few moments, took Meinya off her papa’s shoulder, she turned around and set it on the bed. “Meinya, you helped me. So help momma now for me, okay?”

“Myaaa.” Meinya lay at her momma’s feet, and settled quietly. Prushka pat it’s head smiling.

Her papa took her off the bed and gave her a nudge. Prushka went to the door, turning and watching her papa bend over momma.

“I sent Sumiko to the garden, my love. She was very happy to see all the others. Now you sleep.” he pressed his helmet to her head, and then followed Prushka out. She took his hand, and looked up at him.

“Papa, what is the garden?”

“Ah, it is where I sent Ilim.” he explained.

“Can I go to the garden, papa?”

He laughed, squeezing her hand. “No my dear. The garden is not for you. Your future lies with the dawn.” he paused a moment, “But perhaps one day you will go down and visit the garden with me. We will see.”

Arette woke the next evening. Her arm hurt… Hell her whole side hurt, and something was on her chest. She opened her eyes, which was a struggle, and Meinya was on her chest, sleeping. She moved the arm that did not hurt, and rubbed her eyes. Her lids were very puffy, and she already had an idea what happened.

“You are awake.” Gueira’s voice came from the side that hurt, “You were very foolish to do what you did.”

“Didn’t want him to use the girl…” Arette mumbled, and Gueira sighed in an exasperated way, “How bad was my reaction?”

“Full on anaphylactic shock.” Gueira said, “Prushka saw the state you were in and cried. Do not do such foolishness again. It wastes too many resources.”

They all thought the way Bondrewd did so she knew it was pointless to point out the girl had been an actual child. True, the girl might have not had a reaction the way she had, but still.

He got up, and gingerly took her arm into his hands. “The discoloration has faded a bit. Lucky you, we did not need to fetch parasitic water mushrooms for this.”

“Those things that grow on shroombears?”

“Bondrewd discovered they do very well to heal injuries. Very painful to remove however. The pain might have caused your heart to fail, given your current state.”

“Did it damage it?” Arette asked quietly.

“It's what venom does. It damages tissue. If it runs through the body, damage is almost certain.” Gueira scoffed, “As I said, you were foolish.”

He then set his hand on her head, just like bondrewd did. “Look. Prushka got you flowers.”

Arette turned her head, and on her dresser were eternal fortunes. She smiled gently. “Ah… I feel better already seeing those. Reminds me of Orth.”

A few days later, her arm was no longer so disfigured looking that she felt it was alright for Prushka to come see her. The girl plastered herself on her side, cuddling into her chest silently. Arette read to her quietly.

Finally Prushka spoke. “Momma, what is dawn?”

Arette glanced from the book and looked at Prushka. “Dawn?”

The girl looked up from where she rested her head on her chest. “Papa always talks about the dawn. His title, my name, all based on the dawn. What is it?”

Arette marked the book and closed it, resting her head on Prushka’s. “Dawn, as you father uses, is more symbolic. A new age. But dawn in a literal use, is what happens when a new day on the surface starts.”

“A day?”

Arette nodded. “On the surface, there is night and day. The sun sets, and dusk starts, which leads into night. Night gives way to dawn, and dawn leads to day.”

“Oh I know the sun, it lights up the sky. So… When it is night, there is no sun?”

“Yes exactly. Day and night is like turning a light on and off, but much slower. When dawn starts, the sun lights up the sky and makes it pink, orange and yellow.”

Prushka’s red eyes were huge in wonder, just trying to imagine the sight. “Dawn must be beautiful!”

“It is very beautiful. One of the most beautiful things you could ever see.” Prushka pulled away from her suddenly, looking concerned. Arette tilted her head, “What is wrong Prushka?”

“Do you miss the dawn, momma?”

She instantly knew what she was worried about. “Sometimes I miss the dawn. There are many things I miss. But you and Bondrewd are not on the surface. And so, I don't want to go back. So don’t worry.”

Prushka smiled, showing the gaps in her teeth. “I want to see the dawn, Momma. I want to go up to Orth and see it.”

Arette smiled. “You want to go up? Not down?”

“If I go down, I won't be able to ever go back up again. So I should go up first before I go down” Prushka said it like it was obvious, “I bet there are lots of things to see up there. Out of the abyss.”

Arette nodded, she pointed to the book shelf. “Here, I will show you what is up there. Bring me the big one on the third shelf.”

Arette knew the surface would be fascinating to Prushka as much as the abyss was to everyone else. But that came with having never seen the world above. Prushka brought the book, her grandfather’s atlas, and Arette opened it. 

“My grandfather made this on his way to Orth. Your uncle sent it down to me.” Arette explained, tapping the name on the first page. “He was an explorer. They are like Delver’s but they explore the surface.”

“If there are places to see up there, why come to the abyss?” Prushka asked, leaning over the book.

“Everyone says there's nothing left to explore up there. Most come here to make money. But some, like your father, are fascinated by it. I often think that those that love the abyss become White Whistles.” Arette turned the page, and the two of them focused on the drawings inside.

Boats, birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, plants… So many things Prushka could now see, if even it was not quite with her own eyes.

As they flipped through the book, which Anette had not seen for years, a memory of a particular page came to her.

“There is one page I really wish to show you.” Arette said, turning the book to the middle, and turning so the image was right side up.

The illustration was one of the few colored pages, colored in paints. Yellows, pinks, oranges, and a sky blue, over a dark black sea. Arette set her finger on the yellowed paper. “This is dawn, Prushka.”

“The sky can be all those colors at once?!” Prushka exclaimed, looking up at Arette.

“Yes. When it is Dusk and Dawn, the sky becomes many many colors.

“No wonder Papa talks about dawn so much.” Prushka said, “You were right, it is beautiful. I will help Papa make you better, Momma, so that one day we will go back to the surface. And we will see the dawn all together. Okay?”

Arette pulled Prushka to snuggle into her side again. “That sounds wonderful, Prushka. I can’t wait.”

Prushka soon fell asleep, nestled into Arette’s side. The woman pet the girl’s head, smiling gently at her. She wondered if the girl’s wish to go up and see the dawn with Bondrewd and herself was possible.

She looked up when the door opened, Bondrewd’s mask peaking in. “Ahh. There she is. She was gone all day. I was lonely for her questions.” he slipped in the door closing behind him as he walked to the bed. He paused, before he took the book in his hands. “What is this?”

“Grandfather’s atlas. Prushka was asking me so many things about the surface, and I remembered I had this.”

Bondrewd flipped a few pages. “Ahhh. What skill your grandfather had.” he praised, “Did she enjoy it?”

“She said she wants to see the dawn with the both of us. The dawn when the sun rises.”

His head tilted back and he sighed wistfully. “Ahhh. I remember that. The last one I saw, the clouds were pink like the flesh of a fish.” he closed the book, setting it back on the bed, “I do wish for her to see it. Sometimes I feel guilty that she was born down here. There is much to see above.”

He turned to her, his gloved hands up, voice excited. “Yes, that is something to work towards. Perhaps I could find you a thousand-men pin to use. That would certainly strengthen you up again.”

He sat on the edge of the bed. “How is the arm? Let me see it.”

Arette held her arm out to him, and Bondrewd gently took it. “Ahhh the swelling went down. Good good.” he looked up and touched her face. “Your face is not swollen anymore either. You are recovering well I think.” he took her face in both his hands then and pressed his mask to her forehead, now totally silent.

Arette closed her eyes and leaned into him, smiling. “I am sorry.” 

“Why? You can not help your body's auto-immune response.” he pulled away, “I already found a suitable replacement. One of the workers that keeps Ido Front running was so kind as to volunteer. The drug is a success!”

Arette got excited along with him. How could she not? The discovery would save so many people. “So we have an antivenom for Orb Piercers?”

“Yes indeed. This should keep us afloat for at least another fives years. I shall sell the formula and the artifact I used to make it.” Bondrewd picked Prushka up, the girl wrapping her arms around his neck in a half asleep state. He looked at Arette, voice soft, “It is time to rest now. Until you are strong again.”

“Oh leave her here with me tonight.” Arette pleaded and Bondrewd sighed.

“There is not room for the three of us.”

So he intended to join her tonight. “We can make due, I am sure.”

He sighed, and set Prushka back on the bed, in the middle. He did not even bother to get undressed, and simply lay beside her.

“Mmm… papa?” Prushka rubbed her eyes. “Are you joining us?”

“Of course. Your mother insisted.” Bondrewd settled, helmed head resting on his palm as Prushka curled up into his chest. “Rest well my little loves.”

It took several weeks for Arette to be able to walk around Ido Front again as she used to, but she did feel different. Her heart almost fluttered sometimes when things got too exciting. Gueira was right, damage had been done.

On the next supply shipment from the surface, Arette received a letter from her brother, slipped into her hand by an Umbra Hand whose name she did not know. She opened it, and quietly read it, Prushka looking up at her as she did so.

_Dear sister. Are you well? I hope you are. I have not received a letter written by you for some time, so i hope you and your husband is simply making you too busy write us yourself._

Arette cracked a smile. She really should write letters more.

_I am happy to say that my family and I are in good health. Eura had her second baby not a week ago. A girl. We named her after you. I hope you do not mind._

Arette put her hand on her chest and smiled a bit bigger. However the next part made her smile fall.

_I am however sad to say that mother is not doing well. She caught something a month ago and has not recovered. It has spread to her mind, and she is delirious at times and thinks father is still alive, and sometimes forgets who I even am. I fear that she may not be around much longer. She asks for you often. I know she often spoke cruelly to you, but she did love you, and I think it would do well for you to come up and see her before she passes away. I know it is dangerous, so if you can not do it, do not even try. I will understand._

Arette folded the letter back up and covered her mouth with her hand, closing her eyes. Prushka tugged on her dress.

“Momma, what is wrong?”

“My mother, your grandma, is sick. Your uncle thinks she won’t live much longer.” Arette said solemnly. She turned to look down the hall, Bondrewd was ticking off the supply list, “Bondrewd, I need to speak with you when you are free.”

“Of course. How about tonight in our room?” he called from down the hall, and Arette nodded.

That night she sat on the chair as Bondrewd brushed out her hair for her. The curls were getting more and more pronounced the longer she was here. Like Lyza’s hair. “Bondrewd, do you think a thousand-men pin really could help me?”

“Of course. Ozen has over a hundred of them in her, and she looks no older despite being over fifty. Even one could work miracles for you. They are not that rare either. I could find one if I looked hard enough.” he said, rebraiding her hair for her, “My my my, your hair has gotten even longer.”

“How soon could you get me one?”

That made him focus on her fully. He stopped his motions, and was silent for a long moment. “I could get my hands on one in a matter of days, if that is what you really wanted.” He set both of his hands on her shoulders, “What is wrong Arette?”

“My mother is dying.” Arette said, casting her gaze at her hands, “I want to go back to Orth, and see her.”

He said nothing, merely resting his helmet on top of her head, the metal digging into her scalp. “You would die if you tried to climb up with only the pin.”

She sighed and closed her eyes. She had been afraid of that.

“Which is why, I will help you.”

Arette looked up at him. “You will help me?”

“Of course. You are my wife. If you truly wish to see your mother, I will help you get there, and to return.” He stood up, “I will make you a suit like the others and I wear, and I will get you that pin as well.”

With that he began planning and designing. In a week he presented her a thousand-men pin, in a velvet covered box. Arette looked up at him, and cracked a joke.

“I already married you, you fool.”

He chuckled, and had her turn around, tugging the back of her gown down. “Yes, you did. But I never did get you a ring.” He pressed it into her skin, and she hissed as it embedded itself into her flesh.

The effects were immediate. She could lift things again, jog down the hall without losing her breath or getting dizzy. She doubted she was cured, but her heart was now stronger than it was before, as was the rest of her.

She was herself again.

Another week later, and he presented her with her suit. She had expected something like the other Umbra Hands, but it was not like theirs at all. A long coat like his yes, and the mechanical backpack like his, but otherwise it was very much similar to what she wore when she first descended those years ago before her life changed forever.

Prushka was of course furious at being left behind. ‘I want to see Orth! I want to see the dawn, take me with you Papa!”

“I am sorry Prushka, you are too young to bear the curses that will inflict you when you ascend.” he pet her head and she pouted at him, looking at Arette next.

“Momma, make Papa let me go!” She said, and Bondrewd scolded her.

“Prushka, I will take you to see the dawn one day. But it will not be this trip.”

Arette bent over, smiling at her. “Prushka, I will bring home four, sugar, powdered eggs and milk. Okay?”

She looked confused. “Why?”

“So we can bake you a cake, Prushka. Your seventh birthday is soon, remember? On your birthday, you have cake.”

Prushka reached up and touched her mouth. “Cake? Really? Is that the good food Gueira spoke of?”

“It is very good food, Prushka.” Arette confirmed.

“Okay, momma. But promise me, we all will go up and see the dawn. Okay?”

Arette pushed back Prushka’s hair and kissed her forehead. “Of course. I promise.”

The night before they were to leave, Bondrewd gathered the family together, and had two photos taken. One he gave to Prushka, the other to Arette. “For your family to see. Perhaps your mother would appreciate seeing the family you have created.”

They set out early in the morning, Bondrewd, Gyarike, and herself. To have her sword whip back at her hip and her whistle back around her neck was not a feeling she expected to have again. Bondrewd took a moment before they left Ido Front to slide a cartridge into each of the mechanical backpacks they wore. “What is that?” She asked.

“Something I invented. It should take the curse of the fifth and fourth layer for you.”

“You have things that take on the curse? Really? Why doesn’t everyone use it?”

“Supplies for them are limited, and their manufacturing is costly. I am afraid I can only produce enough for myself and the Umbra Hands to use.” He moved back in front of her and adjusted her straps. “How do you feel?”

“Pretty good.” She said, smiling. He cupped her cheek in his palm a moment, before he let her go.

He had the tail again. She wondered, like she usually did, what it was. An artifact surely. They climbed higher and higher, following the designated path that Bondrewd himself liked to take. And she felt almost nothing at all.

Sometimes, when she walked, she found the ground around her seems to fall away, and her feet fell for what seemed too long to be logical, but otherwise there seemed to be no major loss of her spatial awareness. Bondrewd looked behind him to look at her.

“What is so fascinating about your feet my dear?”

“I think it's the curse. Sometimes, it feels like my feet are falling for miles and miles with every step I take.”

“My my my my. Marvelous. So the cartridge works for you.” He looked away and Arette picked up a rock and threw it at him, knocking him in the back of his helmet.

“You are a prick.” She hissed, but smiled. She was pretty much used to him luring her into testing his devices by this point, but it made her no less annoyed.

The fast pace soon slowed, and she lagged behind. The feeling in her chest was back. The fluttering and dizziness. As she had assumed, the pin merely gave her enough strength to last longer then she could without it.

They however had made it out of the Sea of Corpses, and were now in the Goblet of Giants. So that was progress. However she was dreading the flaut. They rested for a few hours, Arette taking off her gloves and boots to feel the grass against them.

She might never feel it again. So she might as well make it count. She took the time to sleep as well.

It was three days that suddenly the backpack clunked, startling her. The cartridge shot out and clattered on the floor of the cavern they were taking up through the great fault, and she turned to look at it. It spewed liquid and burbled. It looked almost alive. She grimaced, and felt it best not to think of it.

“Ah. It ran out… Lasted longer than I thought it would however.” Bondrewd observed, sounding mildly saddened by it.

His soon ejected too, and not long after that, Gyarike’s. Precautions were quickly taken. They all used a cord to connect one another so one could not wander off, and Bondrewd continued on, leading them.

He had no doubt been through the third layer more times then she could ever fathom. He could stay focused.

She had not felt the curse in so long, and it was no less unpleasant than it ever had been. She felt sick, dizzy, and soon she was hearing whispers all around her. She however focused on Bondrewd’s back, flinching whenever it sounded like someone was screaming in her ears.

“We are almost out of the cavern. We will take a day to rest at the Seeker Camp.” Bondrewd said, looking over his shoulder at Arette, “How do you feel?”

“Like I rolled down a hill and tried to stand up after.” She said, doing everything she could to not vomit. She was not sure if her strength was failing or if it was the Curse, but she was dizzy too.

“Try to hang on until we get there.”

She nodded, and closed her eyes and kept walking.

They finally arrived at the seeker camp, and the exhaustion was crippling. Arette sagged in the chair. Bondrewd examined her, and concluded they would need two days of rest. She felt terrible for dragging everything on so long. He told her not to be ridiculous.

“You are marvelous to be coming up so far, in the state you are in. The will of humanity is so very strong.” he pet her head, and she leaned on him heavily.

“Bondrewd, so it is you.”

A deep woman's voice rang from the door, and Arette looked. A hunched cloaked figure was in the door, practically taking up the entirety of it.

“Ahh, Ozen. It is good to see you! You look splendid!”

Arette sat up instantly, trying not to look so pathetic.

“What made you drag your despicable hide up so far?” Ozen said, stepping in. She stood straight, and her back cracked loudly from it. Her black eyes narrowed at him.

“My wife is going up to see her family.” Bondrewd said, as usual immune to any insults. He motioned to Arette, and Ozen’s black, almost empty eyes focused on her.

Her mouth spread into a grin that was unsettling. “Wife eh? So those rumors were true.” She leaned down, towering over Arette despite now being face to face with her, “She looks like she’s dying.”

Ozen leaned in more. “Tell me, is he a good husband?”

Arette nodded, doing her best to keep her voice even. “A very good one. And a father too.”

“Oh? So it works then?”

Arette took a moment to register what she meant. Her face went red and she spoke before she could think. “I… She is adopted. Our daughter is adopted.” She explained.

Ozen’s grin became sadistic. “Not a very good husband then, is he?”

Did she like embarrassing her? It seemed like it. Ozen stood back up. “Is this the reason you stole that pin from me?”

“I have no idea what you mean.” Bondrewd said pleasantly, turning his focus back to Arette, helping her stand up. “Let's get you to a bed so you can rest properly.”

“I am not done with you yet, Bondrewd.” Ozen said, “Tell me. Did you see her?”

Bondrewd looked at Ozen a moment. “Her… You mean Lyza?”

“Of course. Now, answer me. Did you see her? Did she pass through Ido Front?”

“I apologize, Ozen. But she more than likely forced her way down another path into the sixth layer. I never saw a hide nor hair from the woman.”

Ozen’s face went blank again. “That does sound like her. Anything to avoid seeing you.” She went back to the door, back hunched again, “If you pull anything here I will kick you off the edge.”

“I would expect nothing less from you.” Bondrewd said, and he turned back to Arette. “Now, to bed I think.”

She never saw Ozen again, and Arette was thankful. The woman was quite scary, and very rude. She did not like Bondrewd it seemed, but given his reputation, that seemed to be the norm.

After two days of rest and good food, they resumed. It was much easier now. Even so long without delving, ascending the second layer was a cake walk. By nightfall they had already passed it and the first layer, and the lights of Orth were visible. Arette took the lead then, taking the two men down familiar streets.

She stepped up to a door, and knocked.

There was a pause, but the door opened, and a man with ginger hair opened it. He looked at her, and he blinked. “Arette?”

“Hey, Collis. Miss me?”

He pulled the door open the rest of the way and her brother grabbed her, embracing her tightly. ‘You came… I knew you would.” He pulled away and laughed. “Look at your hair. It’s so curly now. And it's more blond then red”

“A few years down there does that.” Arette stepped back from him, “Can we come in?”

“We?” Collis looked beyond her, and his smile fell. He was afraid, she could tell, “Ah… Your Husband came with you?”

Bondrewd bowed to her brother. “Collis yes? It is a pleasure to meet you finally.” he motioned to Gyarike, “This is one of my assistants.”

Gyarike nodded to him silently.

Bondrewd stepped forward and held out his hand. After a long moment, Collis took it and gave it a firm shake. Collis stepped aside. “Please come in. I think we can make some room.”

Arette met her brother’s wife, a woman she had never met. The next morning she met his children, a boy who was bouncing off the walls to meet an actual White Whistle, and a baby girl named after her. She held her niece in her arms. Looking over to her pack. “Collis, in the front pocket there is a photo. It’s for you.”

Collis took the photo out and he grinned. “So you have a kid too huh? What is her name?”

“Prushka.” Arette smiled as he joined her back on the couch. “A bit of a daddy's girl I think. Like her momma.”

“You were dad’s favorite.” Collis sighed, “I take it she is adopted, unless she inherited Bondrewd’s features.”

“She is adopted, yes.” She dare not say that she had never seen what Bondrewd looked like. All she knew about him was that his penis was uncircumcised and his skin was pale. It was almost laughable how little she knew of his appearance.

But he was most comfortable in his armor, and so she would not ask him to remove it.

She went up to the attic, opening the door a little. Her mother was sitting up in the bed, staring blankly ahead of her. Her mom wasn’t even sixy and she was going to die. Her hair was still mostly blond with only a few grey hairs. It seemed she was too young for this to be happening to her.

Arette paused for a long moment, before speaking. “Momma? I’m home.”

Her mother blinked, and looked at her. A warm smile crossed her face. “Arette? Oh you came back.” She held open her arms, and for all the nagging and criticism, Arette could not help but go to her and hug her.

Arette pulled away from her, and her mother took her black whistle in her hand. “Ah. Your father would be so proud of you.” She gave it a pat, then pat her cheek next, “When did you get this?”

“My husband got it for me so I could stay in Ido Front.” Arette explained.

“Oh? Really?” Her mother looked confused for a moment, “Oh right… Right you married that Novel fellow right?” Her mother looked at her hair, touching it a moment. “Is he nice? Is he treating you well?”

“He is a strange man, but he is proving to be an excellent husband, and a father as well. We adopted a little girl a few years ago. Collis has a photo of her. He can put it on your bedside table if you wish.”

“Oh that sounds lovely.” Her mother set her hands on her lap, and her eyes got a bit glassy.

“Momma?”

“Hmm? Yes, can I help you?” Her mother blinked, and looked at her again. “My you look like my daughter, Arette. She is a delver you know. Just like her father. So very talented, but I worry so much about her.”

Arette remembered that her brother had said sometimes mother had not recognized him. She did her best not to break down crying. She kissed her mother’s forehead. “Goodbye momma. I don’t think I will be coming home again.”

Her mother just smiled politely at her, and Arette stood up and left. She slapped her cheeks a few times, taking calm breaths. She had things to buy for Prushka’s cake and she could not look like she had been crying.

She picked Laffi’s shop, It was the closest, and it would be nice to see her. She might even catch Hablog, if she was lucky. She could remember when Hablog was a moon whistle teaching her and the others how to delve. What fond memories indeed.

Arette walked into the shop, and Laffi greeted her. “Welcome, anything I can help you with?”

She paused, and her eyes widened. “Arette!” She rushed around the counter and grabbed her hands, “Oh Arette! Your back. I was so worried about you, when Hablog said you were at Ido Front I was so frightened.”

“Ido Front?!”

A little girl suddenly ran out from the back, short blond hair in pigtails and glasses too big for her on her face. “You are from Ido Front? Really? What is it like? What animals are down there? Do you know Bondrewd the Novel?”

“Riko it's rude to interrupt adults speaking.” Laffi sighed.

The girl reminded her of Prushka, with how excited she was. Arette crouched down and smiled at her. “Yes, I am from Ido Front. It’s very muddy and rocky down there. The animals are mostly fish, as far as I know. Yes. I know Bondrewd the Novel.”

“Did you maybe, see my mother down there?” Riko asked, “Her name is Lyza.”

Arette paused. Lyza the Annihilator had a daughter? She had no idea. She paused a moment, remembering what Bondrewd said to Ozen. “I am afraid that I didn’t see her down there. She slipped past Ido Front without anyone noticing.”

Riko pouted, then bowed to her. “Sorry for interrupting.” She turned and went back to where she was behind the counter, to a telescope at the window.

Arette stood back up. “You don't have to worry about me, Laffi. Be sure to tell Hablog that I am fine too, now, do you have powdered milk and eggs? I need things for a cake.”

“Oh yes, of course.”

Arette carried the bags back to the house. She wanted to return to Ido Front soon. But on a good day, so she could say a proper goodbye to her mother. Gyarike took the supplies to the carriage they would use for a quick trip back down, and Arette prepared.

Her mother was sound of mind again a day later. So it was time to leave.

She bid her family all goodbye, giving them all final hugs. Bondrewd then led her to where the carriage was, an abandoned factory. How very sketchy.

She sat down inside, hand’s in her lap. Bondrewd pet her head.

“You have a wonderful family, my dearest.” He said, “I hope you understand, if you come back down with me, you will never be able to go back up.”

“Ah, I guess then I won't be able to see the dawn with Prushka.” Arette said, looking away sadly.

“If you even live long enough to see her old enough to ascend.” He tilted her head back, looking down at her, “Even with the pin in your skin, you still have heart failure, Arette. You know this right?”

She still hoped, deep down, that she could still see the dawn on the surface with Prushka. Just to see it reflected in her pretty eyes, the big smile on her face. At the very least live to see her go up herself. But it seemed like such a fragile hope now. “I know.”

Arette took his hand and held it to her cheek. “My home is at Ido Front with you and Prushka. If I had doubts of that, I never would've married you.” She looked up at him, “I can only ever go down now.”

“Perhaps you will go down with me, one day.” He stepped back out of the carriage, and closed the door, leaving her in the warm red glow of the lights above.

Arette looked at the supplies for the cake, and she hoped that Prushka liked vanilla.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have written some small snippets of what comes after this and during the Ido Front Arc of the manga. IDK if i will ever post it as its gonna be depressing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all goes down hill from here.

Ido Front. The final stop for many a white whistle before their first, and only delve into the sixth layer.

It was there that a White Whistle lived. Where he discovered many things, and ruined many lives.

Bondrewd the Novel, the Sovereign of Dawn. A man who many tried to kill and yet none succeeded. A man who never seemed to anger, and was filled with a genuine love for every life that he destroyed.

It was this man that Arette married. The man she loved.

After her final trip to the surface to bid her goodbyes to her family, Arette embraced her life. Granted, she had never tried to refuse it, but with things settled above things seemed more assured.

The Thousand-Man Pin made her well enough to actually go out into the Abyss for small excursions, and keep up with her increasingly curious daughter.

She might not have been able to go up, but she sure could go in a straight line, and the fifth layer was certainly flat compared to everything else.

“What if we mined through the wall and then down?” She asked Bondrewd as he chipped away at some stone to retrieve a rather large relic that the Delver’s Society was insistent on retrieving, “Hypothetically of course. Would the curse be there?”

“You ask stranger questions than Prushka.” Bondrewd said, turning to the slew of black whistles that had joined to assist in the recovery. “Surround the area and begin the extraction processes. Be on guard for Stingerheads.”

“But It’s a sound idea right?” Arette asked, resting her chin on her fist as she watched him.

Bondrewd chuckled. “I suppose if you dug down far enough away and alongside the Abyss, you could bypass the curse. But that would take centuries to dig.” he turned his helmet to her, “Use your pretty head to think of more reasonable ideas.”

The other black whistles looked from one another awkwardly, save for a familiar and friendly face. Hadblog was along for the dig, and to see his old student again was pleasant. Especially to see her happy when everyone above wondered if she was even alive.

He put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair as they patrolled around the edge of the dig sight. “Dare I say you made the man human again.” he teased her.

“Oh, he’as always flowery with how he talks. Love this, love that! He’s a romantic. And a poet too.” Arette pushed his hand off her head, she got enough of that from Bondrewd to last her a lifetime.

“Well I am glad he makes you happy.” Hadblog laughed, “Have you thought of children?”

“I told you. We have an adopted daughter.” Arette said, stopping to see what was under the snow. It looked like a relic, but it was nothing more than a rock. A cool looking one though. The kind she would pretend was a relic as a child.

“Yes, and she sounds delightful. But I was talking about having more. One of your own.”

Arette stared at the rock, no longer looking at it. A child of her own. A child. Her’s and Bondrewd’s.

What a horrifying thought. 

She looked at Hadblog and smiled wearily. “I don’t think that will be possible, with my heart as it is.”

Hadblog crouched next to her. “Is that all there is to it? Are you afraid of him, Arette?”

“No. No, I am not afraid of him.”

She wasn’t. She really wasn’t. What she was afraid of, however, was his ambition. A man so rational he was practically deranged. Nothing was truly safe from him, and she knew that. His love was not a barrier to the horrors he inflicted. She knew it first hand...

But at the same time, He had never harmed Prushka. Not a single hair on her head. She had been under his care for over five years and he had never used her to test anything. He had done nothing more than love and teach her. She pursed her lips. Maybe there was someone who could be exempt from his experiments.

His own children.

She allowed herself then to imagine it. It would be hard because of the curse, and her heart. But it was not impossible. She held the image of him holding a delicate infant in his arms in her mind’s eye, and she smiled. “Well… he does like children.” she said quietly.

Hadblog pat her back, getting back up. “Don’t do anything like that unless you're sure you can handle it. Kids are not easy, and too many children end up parentless because of the Abyss.”

Arette was helped to her feet, and she put the rock in her coat pocket. “I think they would have a better chance than most to keep both. I can’t do anything more exciting than walk around in a straight line, and Bondrewd defies delver expectations once a month.”

He laughed, and they resumed the patrol.

The seed was planted, and when the relic was secured and Arette and Bondrewd were back at Ido Front, she bit her lip as she watched him pick Prushka up and hold her in the air. After a few moments she stepped up to him and took his coat sleeve, giving it a tug.

“A moment?” 

He tilted his head at her, but turned and set Prushka back town, touching her cheek affectionately. “Go play with Gueira for a few more minutes. Papa and momma need to speak, Prushka.”

“Okay, Papa.” Prushka smiled at him and turned, skipping back down the hall, little Meinya hopping behind her.

Arette fiddled with her fingers, avoiding looking at him as she rocked back and forth on her heels. She didn’t know how to ask it. “Do you like children?” she finally asked a mirror of the one he had asked her years ago,

Bondrewd tilted his head again. “Something is on your mind, Arette. What is it? You can tell me.” he took her hands in his and gave her fingers a squeeze.

“Do you… Do you like young children?” She fumbled, “Like.. Do you like babies? Little ones. Just born ones.”

He was silent and still. Like a statue. She figured he understood what he was asking now, considering the long pause. She wished she could see his face and read his expression.

“My my my my my.” he finally said, and he had a subdued but gleeful tone to his voice, “Arette, are you asking me to have a child with you?” he cupped her face in his hand, leaning in and pressing his helmet to her head.

Arette closed her eyes. “It's a thing to think about.” she reasoned.

“It is indeed.” he nuzzled her cheek. He hummed pleasantly, taking her hands in his, “Perhaps we shall. But there are risks. You understand that, yes?”

“I mean there are always risks with pregnancy. Like-”

“Yes, all of that yes. But the strain of the curse on the fetus, the strain on your heart. You must think carefully.”

“I won't be young forever. We can’t think too long.” Arette insisted, “Lets try tonight. Its around the right time to try… I mean if you want to.”

He pulled her closer and gave her a squeeze, his helmet resting on her shoulder, and his hands gripping her hips as he nuzzled her neck. “Alright. Let me get everything sorted, and we can try in two hours.”

She got goosebumps, grinning at him as he pulled away. He wanted to get to it right away it seemed. “I'll freshen up and go look pretty for you.”

“You are always pretty to me.” He stepped away, and left her to swoon a bit in the hall. 

Arette made her way to where those who resided at Ido Front liked to bathe. A converted tank that heated the water like it was a communal bath. She stopped a moment to grab Prushka around the middle, who was running after Meinya. “Hey now, where are you going in a hurry without giving your momma a hug and a kiss hello?”

Prushka giggled as Arette kissed her cheek. “Momma let me go, I gotta catch Meinya.” the girl turned around regardless when set back on her feet, kissing Arette’s cheek, then giving her a hug. ‘What were you and Papa talking about?”

“We may be planning something. We will see how it works out.” She was not sure if she should tell Prushka now, or when it happened. She guessed it was safer to not get her hopes up for a sibling until Arette was sure she was pregnant and that it was healthy.

Arette sighed as she looked at Prushka’s clothes. They were not even clothes, but the same little smock she had been wearing for five years. “How about for your tenth birthday I have your papa get you clothes? Shirts, dresses, pants, all that fun stuff.”

Prushka grinned and clapped her hands. “Can I pick the colors?”

“Of course, they are going to be your clothes.” Arette kissed the girl’s forehead, and she stood back up, “Your Papa and I will be in our room for the rest of the day, don’t bother us okay?”

Prushka pouted, but nodded. “Okay. What will you be doing?”

“We will tell you when you are older.” Arette said hurriedly. She figured Bondrewd would be better at that kind of talk anyway.

Prushka narrowed her eyes and looked like she was going to ask more questions, until Meinya cried from down the hall. Prushka grinned, remembering her previous game of chase, and ran past Arette. “Meinya! Are you ready to stop running now?”

Arette resumed her trek to the baths, cleaning up the grime she had managed to accumulate despite the little activity she did. Going out there was good exercise, and it was nice to see something more than just the base, even if that something wasn’t all that interesting. Just snow, mud, sandstone, and that one crystal formation that looked like a horse.

She sat herself on the bed once she returned to the room. She contemplated what to do. How to look. It was special, this moment, even more than the first time. Bondrewd was not a sensual man. Sex was rare even now that he ‘understood’. Once a month, twice occasionally. A low libido to be sure, but she didn’t mind. Sex wasn’t everything after all.

She racked her brain to think of anything he had ever said about her that he liked that she could show off. She remembered when once he stated he liked her breasts. He said they felt like Princess Bosoms and were fun to hold, which in turn explained why those useless soft rocks were so popular.

She guessed she would wear nothing in that case.

She pulled her clothes off and flopped on the bed and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

She waited so long she ended up dozing, only jerking awake at the sound of a distant door closing with a loud clunk. She was still alone... Bondrewd was usually punctual, and as such, she instantly started to worry, sitting up and tucking her hair behind her ear, grabbing a dress and pulling it over her head quickly.

She poked her head out of the door, looking up and down each hall before stepping out and making her way to the areas where Bondrewd often worked. On the way there she peeked into Prushka’s room, and saw she wasn’t there either.

Maybe Pruhska had distracted him and they were playing together? She kept looking, stopping at a door. Meinya was outside it, pawing at the metal and crying.

She gave the door a twist, and pulled it open. “Prushka, are you in here?”

Sher froze, and looked at Bondrewd and Guiera who were standing over a little body on the table. Meinya rushed past her and Gueira hissed. 

“Get Meinya out of here. It's going to-”

“Prushka?” she saw the head of white hair past Bondrewd’s arm. “What are you- What is going on?”

“Arette, forgive me. I would of sent someone to you but-”

“What are you doing to her?!” She lurched towards the table, but Bondrewd stepped away from it, Guiera taking his place to block her sight of Prushka.

“I have done nothing to her, Arette.” Bondrewd took hold of her arm and held her in place, “I am helping her, Arette. Please-.”

“What happened?!” Arette tried to push her way past Bondrewd, but he held her firmly in place, “What happened to Prushka? Get out of my way or I will get you out of my way!”

“Always so irrational…” Gueira mumbled, and Arette tried to lunge for him.

“That's my daughter I will be as irrational as I want!”

“Arette, calm down.” Bodrewd pushed her back again, taking her face in her hands. “Prushka had an accident. She went up stairs after Meinya, and the curse struck her.”

That did not calm her down. She started crying. She had been sitting around trying to look pretty while her daughter was suffering. She felt terrible. Like the worst mother in the world. She started slapping at his chest, suddenly overcome with anger. She remembered all the times she saw those damned stairs and told him to do something to block them off. “I told you! I told you to block those off somehow! She’s a child she isn’t always aware of her surroundings!”

He let her hit him, arms spread open. “You don’t have to worry. She will recover. She has before. Now please do not yell. We are trying to patch her up. What she needs is you to be as calm as I. Do you understand?”

Arette finally calmed down, and Bondrewd embraced her. “She has lost most of her baby teeth, and her arm is broken. Those are the most serious. We will fix her teeth for her as best as we can.” He gently led her back out of the room, Gueira handing him Meinya who was squirming and trying to get back into the room, “Now let us work. When she is all patched up, you can see her. Right now, she is a sight to see, and I don’t want to stress you out more than you are.”

He lifted his hand and set it on her breast, over her heart. “We need to keep this as healthy as possible, yes?”

Arette looked at his hand a moment, before she nodded, taking in a few shaking breaths, then coughing a few times. “Okay… Okay.” 

Bondrewd moved, his helmet pressing to the side of her face, a kiss of sorts, giving her Meinya to hold. “As soon as she is ready. I will get you. First thing. I promise.”

With that he pulled away, and slipped back inside the room, the door closing behind him. He and Gueira worked carefully. Setting her arm, fixing what teeth they could with glue. He held her little hands, looking at her bloody nail beds. Such pity in his heart. He was glad he spared Arette such a sight.

Soon Prushka was as patched up as she could be, and Bondrewd took her gently in his arms, Her red eyes finally stopped looking ahead blankly, and they flicked to look at his helmet. “Pa...Pa…”

“See Gueira? She is already recovering.” Bondrewd said, opening the door. He looked up, and Arette was sitting outside the door, across the hall, leaning on the wall and sleeping. “Arette.” he called, “Arette, wake up.”

She stirred and looked up at him. “Is she okay?”

“She’s going to be fine. Come, let's put her to bed. Here, you may hold her.”

Arette stood up, taking Prushka from him and gently holding her. Prushka looked at her too, smiling with her broken teeth. “Mama…”

Bondrewd set a hand on Arette's head and she started crying. She brought Prushka to their room, and laid her gently on the mattress and propped her up. Prushka settled under the quilts, the girl smiling in a lopsided way as Meinya hopped up onto the bed and sat on the pillow by her head.

“Is she going to be okay? The last time she was hit with the curse she forgot everything from before.”

“Of course. She knows who we both are, she knows where she is. Don’t you, Prushka?” Prushka nodded at him, reaching up to rub at her cheek. She winced then, siffling.

“It hurts.” She said quietly.

Prushka soon fell asleep despite the pain, and Arette chewed on her thumb. This was a risk wasn’t it? Having a baby down here... Children didn’t always obey, or were even aware of the consequences when a rule was broken. Bondrewd had told Prushka so many times to never go up to far, and yet she had.

She looked at Bondrewd. “I need to think more… About the baby thing.”

“Of course. I understand.” He pressed his mask to her cheek and nuzzled.

Arette pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and she closed her eyes. She had been so scared he had been doing something to her. Now not only did she feel terrible about Prushka, but that as well. “I am sorry for accusing you of hurting her.”

“Do not be, you only showed how much you love her.” He moved to the bed, laying by Arette’s side and holding her close.

It seemed almost impossible to upset him.

It only took days for Prushka to be back on her feet, running around again. Arette could not believe how quickly she bounced back. She also took notice of Prushka’s change in appearance, which the girl was all too eager to point out.

“See? My hair is curly like yours now momma.” Prushka said, looking in the mirror and pointing at her hair, which was not only curled, but streaked with green as well, “It even changed color like yours.”

“You look just like me now.” Arette took Prushka’s shoulders in her hands and leaned down, kissing her cheek, making Prushka recoil away and giggle.

She hopped off the stool and rushed out into the hall, burying her face into Meinya’s fur, then rushing off again. Arette sighed, setting a hand on her hip. “Nothing slows her down.”

Gueira hummed. “She says that little thing lets her see the curse.” he said, “I worry now she will explore even more with that.”

Arette sighed. “She is her papa’s daughter.” She then looked at him, “And you say you worry, but you don’t help discourage it. It's like I have to fight against two papas.”

Gueira sighed. “She should learn all she can of this place, for her benefit. Why would I stop that?”

“See? Two against one.” She shoved him playfully, “Stop being so serious. I am teasing you.” Arette then left Gueira in the hall, jogging lightly after Prushka to at least keep an eye on her.

Prushka recovered quickly. She started to have adventures of her own around the base, and Arette and Guiera were left to follow after her. There was nothing Arette could do to stop her, and Guiera was correct, she had to learn these things. The sooner the better.

When Prushka got the cast off her arm, Arette measured her, and Prushka said exactly what she wanted to wear and in what colors. Soon she had an actual wardrobe to pick from, shirts, shorts, even a dress or two to wear.

Prushka spent her tenth birthday throwing outfits together to show off to Bondrewd and Arette. Posing for them. “I like this one. I think I look like a delver in this.” she said about a green overall dress with a white button up shirt under it, a little tie, gloves, and a shawl.

“Yes you do.” Bondrewd affirmed, clapping his hands, “You look quite lovely in green, Prushka.”

She quirtised, giggling afterwards. “I think it's my favorite color.” she said, “Do you like it, momma?”

“I love it. You look beautiful” Arette clapped too, and Prushka grinned, her cheeks getting rosey.

“I’m gonna go show Guiera and everyone else!”

“Fold up your clothes first Prushka, then you may. You need to take care of your new clothes.” Bondrewd said, and Prushka nodded.

A few days later, Arette trotted after Prushka as she rushed ahead, intending on practicing with climbing up the walls like she was scaling a cliff. So she could “get past the third layer”. Arette could not catch her breath, and her legs felt weak.

Finally she slowed to a stop and coughed a few times. Supporting herself on the wall. She looked up, Prushka coming back to grab her hand.

“Come on, you said you would show me how to tie the knots.” She tugged her arm, and Arette smiled wearily at her.

“Of course, but let's walk there. Okay? Momma doesn't feel too good.”

Prushka looked worried, nodding at her request. “I’m sorry momma. I will be slower for you.”

The symptoms were coming back, but Arette didn’t want to think about it. She had too much on her plate with Prushka. She would have to teach her so many things. All the things a girl went through when they started growing into a lady.

At least boys were not something she had to worry about.

It felt like she had only blinked and another year passed. Prushka was eleven now, and Arette could not have been more proud of her.

Arette mixed up the last of the supplies she had bought on the surface, making her one last cake for who knew how long. She mixed the eggs, sugar, baking powder, and flour together, breathing hard as she moved the whisk.

“You are breathing awfully hard from that.” Gueira said, “Are you feeling alright?”

“Lets see you beat this stuff then.” Arette panted, pushing the bowl over to him, “It's harder than it looks.”

Gueira took the bowl and mixed for a few moments. He chuckled softly. “It is, surprisingly.” he turned away from her as she reached for the bowl again, “However I will continue to mix. Why don’t you make sure the present is ready?”

The present was a hat to match the delving outfit that Prushka had tossed together herself, commissioned from the surface by bondrewed himself. Arette did one final check to make sure it matched the green of Prushka’s dress.

She put the cake batter in the baking pan and set it among the hot pipes to bake. It would take a good hour for it to bake in there, but that was plenty of time to set up more things.

Hours later, Prushka entered her room, grinning as Gueira and Arette surprised her.

She loved her hat, and she loved her cake. She was even happier when Bondrewed arrived. “Papa, thank you so much for the gift. I love it!” she said, spinning around and showing the hat off, “Meinya loves it too, they fit right under it perfectly!”

“I am so happy you like it.” he pet the side of her head, and took the slice of cake that Prushka offered him, “I will save this for later. Thank you my dear Prushka.”

He took Arette aside. “Guiera told me that you had trouble mixing the batter.” he set a gloved hand on her face, “Are you feeling alright?”

“It's a cake.. It's exhausting to put together. I am fine.”

“Some of the others have noted you cough and are short of breath when following Prushka around, as well.”

“Oh so all of you spy on me?”

He chuckled, and pressed his helmet to her cheek. “We do, yes.”

Arette continued on, following Prushka when she was not following her father. She was having trouble breathing even when asleep now, sometimes waking up gasping for air. 

She was in the bathing area that day, washing Prushka’s hair and then dunking her under the water. Prushka popped up with a gasp, and then she laughed. “You next. I wanna wash your hair.”

“I have much more hair than you do. It needs to be washed a special way so it doesn't get badly tangled.” Arette said, getting her brush and oils ready along with the soap, “Why don’t you give Meinya a wash?”

“If I wash Meinya I can’t see the wispy stuff any more.” Prushka said, she looked past Arette and grinned. “Ah! Papa!”

Bondrewd was at the door. “Oh my… Was it bath day for the two of you? Forgive me.”

Prushka got up and stepped out, almost slipping before getting her footing back. She grabbed his hand. “No! Come on come in with us!”

“I would rather not…”

“Papa please? It's fun we can have a splash fight like they do up on the surface.”

Arette ran her comb through her hair, smiling. “Come on in. There is room you know.”

She would not deny she was looking for a chance to maybe see what he actually looked like, however he proved himself to be both stubborn and weird, as usual.

“I suppose I could.” He sighed, and stepped up to the side of the reservoir, and then stepped into the water, boots and everything else still on.

Prushka’s bit her lip, starting to giggle as Bondrewd sat himself down in the water. “Papa, you take off your clothes for baths.”

Bondrewd looked at Arette, tone pleasant as he spoke. “This is actually quite nice. Being in here for some family time.”

He lifted his hand and blocked some of the water that splashed onto him as Prushka jumped back in, now with her own clothes on. “Me too! Hehe.”

Bondrewd pet her head. “How adorable.” he said, chuckling softly.

“Well now I’m the weird one aren’t I?” Arette sighed, finishing with her hair. She scooted to the side of the reservoir, “I might as well put my dress back on and join you so I look normal.”

She got up, and her vision went spotty and her head spun. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor of the room, her head hurting as Prushka leaned over her.

“Momma, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just got… Dizzy.”

Moving to sit up made her dizzy too, and so Bondrewd scooped her up in his arms like she was a bride again. Arette rested her head on his shoulder, her fingers tracing over his whistle as they walked down the hall.

He laid her on the bed and took her arm in his hand and he felt her pulse, He then moved down, and took her ankle into his hand, examining it carefully. He tutted quietly.

“The pin isn’t helping me any more is it?” she asked quietly.

“I am afraid not. It was always nothing more but a bandaid.” Bondrewd said, “Your heart failure is advancing. I had hoped that it would not progress, but I suppose what you have is not the same as someone who eats poorly..”

He laced his fingers together, and lowered his helmet to them, pensive and silent for a long time. Finally he raised his head, tone pleasant as he spoke. “Arette, I want to help you. However I can. Will you let me?”

She knew what his help meant. “How would you help me?”

“In my journeys I have amassed a collection of relics. One I have found I could repurpose into a heart for you.” He sat up, and looked at her, “It is only a theory. I will test it as much as I can, but you are on limited time.”

Arette wanted to live a long life. She wanted to see Prushka go to the surface. She wanted to go up again herself. But she would not be selfish. She reached out and took his knee in her hand, “Just don’t hurt anyone to do this for me. That is all I ask.”

“I promise.”

Bondrewd set to work on refining the relic. He didn’t even know how to describe it truly, as it was in all aspects, a special grade relic of great potential, even if it looked innocuous.

It was a large urn full of something like clay, that one could mold into a shape, and it came to life. Not truly alive as it did not grow, eat nor breath. But it could imitate life. If it was not fired, it could be returned to the urn and reused, but if exposed to heat and turned into pottery, it was permanent, and even when shattered whatever creature was made would continue to exist, and could be repaired.

It had been quite the find in one of his few dives into the sixth layer and something he had played with periodically. So spectacular he had never even bothered to tell the Delver’s Guild about it, much like his Gangway.

He molded it carefully into a bird, and it came to life in his hands. Chirping and flapping its little clay wings. He promptly crushed it in his palms, and it returned to lifeless clay again. The heart was alive, in the way a bacterium was. So it should work.

He molded it again, and soon he had a heart in his hands. As anatomically correct as he could make it. It sat in his palm for a few long moments, and then it beat in his hands.

He tested rapidly. Animals first. He managed to make it take the heart well and it functioned properly until the blood eroded the clay away, making the creature drop dead. It would have to be fired then to make it last long term.

Next he plucked a child from the garden. Jeru, a sweet boy who had wanted to be a farmer. Such a humble aspiration that Bondrewd had always admired. He sliced him open and replaced his heart with one that he had fired. The heart took well and the Jeru was returned to the garden for a few days, before Bondrewd dissected him again.

Jeru did not survive, and Bondrewd mourned him a moment, and marveled at the memory of Mitty, a girl truly immortal. She would have been perfect for these tests.

The flesh seemed to meld into the clay. Perfect. The integration would be seamless then. His mind raced with the ideas that the clay could pull off, but the supply was limited. For now he had to focus all of this effort onto his dear Arette.

Bondrewd had kept his promise so far. And he would continue to, but he still needed a grown adult to test on, and he had only one place to turn to.

He walked down the deeper levels, Gueira behind him as he observed several of the failed Umbra Hands, poor souls with no minds left to speak of. He often used them for his experiments, and they all had the scars to prove it.

“This one isn’t defecating itself constantly.” Gueira said motioning to one that was passing back and forth, turning valves periodically

“Perhaps, but he seems to be doing something mildly important.” Bondrewd observed.

“Yes, because it's not as…” Gueira waved his hand around vaguely, “it would be perfect to test.”

“I suppose you are correct.” Bondrewd took the plittful thing by the shoulder and led it back up into the higher levels.

As it lay on the table, Bondrewd didn't even bother with pain relief or sedation. He strapped it down, and once he was secured, Bondrewd sliced down the flesh of it’s chest, and it made no sound. It was even less reactive than sweet darling Jeru had been.

Gueira observed him a moment before speaking. “What will we do for life support?” He asked, “She is not like the children in the garden. They are sturdier now, even if not the same level as Mitty was.”

“The machines we use for the cartridge making process will work well enough.” Bondrewd said.

“It is rather crude… Perhaps we should refine them. They are meant for someone to be taken apart.”

“Well this is the perfect chance to see if they are suited for a transplant, don’t you think?” Bondrewd took a few tubes and one by one attached them to the man. "See? It works for him just fine.”

Gueira sighed and nodded. And Bondrewd chuckled. “You worry about her. And I thought you found her annoying.”

“Not annoying. Just irrational.”

“Love is irrational, and yet so very powerful.” Bondrewd set the heart into place, and tied the arteries around the valves. The heart started beating, and when he removed the clamps, blood began to pump again. “Marvelous.”

A few days later he cut the man open again, and everything seemed to be working and melding together. He was eager to move on to Arette, but he had not yet observed long term activity. The man seemed fine, as fine as a mindless creature could. He worked, he moved.

There was always room for error. And of course, Arette could simply not be strong enough to handle the stress of the surgery. But she would only get worse. There was no other choice. They did it now, or never.

Arette agreed. She was not sure how one could replace a heart. She had never heard of anything like that before. She was not optimistic, nor pessimistic. She looked at Prushka as the girl sat by the bed, drawing her. She smiled and called to her. “Prushka.”

“Yes, momma?”

“Your father is going to be performing surgery on me. Hopefully, once I recover, the three of us will go up, together, and see the dawn.” Arette held out her hand to Prushka, and the girl took it, holding her mother’s hand to her face and she grinned. 

“You will make it momma. Don’t worry. We will see it.”

Arette gave her hand a squeeze. “And don’t be sad for long if I don’t make it. I will be at the bottom of the Abyss. If you work hard, you could be just as skilled as your father, and you can come and see me down there.”

Prushka frowned a little. “How can you be down there, if you die?”

Arette rolled over, taking a cloth and coughing into it for a few seconds before finally stopping. She smiled at Prushka. “They say, when you die in the Abyss, you return to it, as a spirit. So if I do die, I will be a part of the Abyss.”

“You are not gonna die momma. Not yet.” Prushka hopped onto the bed, Meinya crawling out from under her hat to lay next to Arette’s feet.

The day came quickly. Arette sat in the bedroom, only in a robe as Bondrewd told her each and every step of the surgery he would be performing.

She looked up from her twisting hands when he kneeled in front of her, and watched as he plucked his whistle from its place on his scarf

He gently set the whistle into her hands, and then closed her fingers over it, making her grasp it tightly. He held her hands in his own, and lowered his helmet to them. Arette didn’t understand. Was he praying?

“Your hands are so warm.” he said quietly.

“Bondrewd, what are you doing?” Arette asked curiously, and he pulled away.

“Perhaps one day I will tell you.”

“Ugh. You and your secrets. How many do you have?”

“More than you could imagine… Now then, let's prepare everything. Let me pin your hair up for you.”

Arette looked at her hands as he styled her hair so it wouldn’t get in the way. “When I recover, lets try the baby thing again. Do you still want to?”

“Of course I want to. I do love children. I always wanted more.”

Arette’s stomach twisted. If he always wanted more why didn’t he actually adopt all those children he brought down? Why just send them to the garden? She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, holding it, and letting it out.

Bondrewd finished, his hands lingering on her shoulders and neck. “I love you.” he said, looking up as Gueira stepped in.

“The room is ready.” he said, and Bondrewd nodded.

It was a room she had never seen before. Cases lined the walls and hooks hung from the ceiling. It felt off. Weird. Almost like it was cursed. She sat quietly as everyone quietly did final preparations.

She looked at the wall. An illustration of a person hung up on it. It looked like it was a diagram on how to take them apart. One of the Umbra Hand took her chair and turned it so she was no longer looking at it.

“Everything is ready, Arette.” Bondrewd said pleasantly as an Umbra Hand helped him dress for the surgery, “Get on.”

“Get on.” Guiera mirrored robotically.

“Get on.” Another man said.

“Get on.”

‘Yes, get on.”

All of them motioned to the table in perfect sync. She got goosebumps from the odd behavior. Slowly she stood up, slowly getting on with some help from Guiera.

“Lay down and relax. When you wake up, everything will be fine.” Bondrewd assured

“It will be fine.”

“Yes, perfectly fine.” Guiera said, and Arette looked at him

“You are terrifying me. I hope you know that.” Arette grumbled, laying back on the table.

Guiera said absolutely nothing at all, slowly starting to strap her arm down. Bondirewd set a hand on her forehead, petting it gently.

Arette closed her eyes, and did her best not to panic. Bondrewd comforting her was helping a little. She opened them when he removed his hand, and she watched as he got the needle to sedate her.

“I will see you when you wake up, my dearest.” Bondrewd said, and he slipped the needle into her skin.

With Arette under he transferred the job of sedation to another Umbra Hand. He knew where everything was, where everyone ewas. He was in complete control of the room. He smeared iodine onto his gloves. “Prepare the machine. We need to hook it up to her and support her vitals so we can replace her heart.”

“Prepare.”

“Yes, prepare.”

Needles into her arms, her central line… The tube into her throat so she could continue to breathe even though her chest would be open. Yes, perfect. Marvelous. He turned to the table beside him, the clay heart beating on it. He had painstakingly sculpted it for days, making it perfect for her.

Once he was sure everything was in place, he took the scalpel, and cut. Through the skin, the thin layer of fat.

He lost himself into the work, seeing every angle of what he was doing. Knowing just where to cut, knowing when to give more blood, when to make an Umbra Hand tie off a blood vessel that was in the way.

Slow, painstaking work. For he was doing something he had never done before. A transplant with an artificial organ. Unheard of in the world of science. A true first.

He pulled her ribcage appart with a crack, and it was then that the machine started to blip erratically. He jolted from his concentration, looking up at it.

Her pressure was dropping.

No no no no. How could her pressure be dropping before he even… Why? Everything was going perfectly. He looked down at the floor, blood pooling at his feet and flowing off the table. Why was she bleeding so badly? He looked up at the Umbra Hand who was supposed to be replacing her blood, and he was slowly hooking it up to her lines.

Then he looked to the one who was supposed to be tying off blood vessels. He was slowly cauterizing and tying them off. This was supposed to be done quickly, yet delicately. This was not the time for a slow steady hand!

He was being too slow. They all were too slow.

His control slipped, the other Umbra Hands returning to awareness. A slight panic ran over the men but Gueira, ever loyal and calm, stepped forward to assist.

“Sir? Are you alright?

Bondrewd, pushed her lung aside, grabbing hold of the spasming heart, squeezing it rhythmically. “Come now, my dear. You can’t go like this.” he said, his tone deceptively pleasant.

“Bondrewd, what do you need me to do?”

“The foxglove extract, Gueira. Put it in her drip. Now. And you, stop that bleeding. That was your job.”

‘Y-yes sir.”

Gueira did as he requested, and Bondrewd kept squeezing her heart, which was ineffectually twitching in his grasp. “Please, you need to stay with me so I can put in the artifact.” His other hand moved and rested on her forehead, “Give her more blood, Gueira. She looks palid.”

An Umbra Hand by the machine monitoring Arette’s vitals spoke. “Sir, you need to remove your hand. The electrical signals are failing. She’s beyond help.”

Bondrewd let the heart go and watched as it did little more than twitch. He looked at her face, then to the machine. Indeed, all signals were bordering on dying, most worryingly so activity from her brain. His hand returned to keep squeezing her heart rhythmically as he tried to also get everything ready to tie off the arteries that lead to and from her heart. “I could-”

“She’s been like this for who knows how long. The brain is dying. Even if you get it in and pumping for her. There is no guarantee that she will have enough cognitive function to be herself. Let her die.” 

“Shut up you idiot.” Guiera snapped, his calm demeanor vanishing, “That is the mistress of Ido Front you are talking about. Not some orphan from the surface.”

“Now who is the irrational one, Gueira?”

Bondrewd felt her heart fail in his hands. He let it go, and began tying off the arteries quickly, he set the new heart in her chest, crudely gluing the arteries to it, making sure to not miss anything. It was in, securely. He allowed her blood to flow through it again, and soon it was beating for her.

He looked up at the machine. Her heart was strongly beating...

But her brain was inactive. 

The momentary thrill of success vanished. He had taken too long to decide what to do.

They all stared at the machine. Arette’s heart was beating, but she was gone. Brain dead.

“Ah… How unfortunate.” Bondrewd said quietly. He looked back down at her, “You didn’t even get to try it out… After I worked so hard to make it for you. Oh my poor dear.”

He took her head in his hands, and pressed his helm to her forehead. “This is my fault.”

“Sir-”

“You are all too slow when I control so many. I wanted to be in complete control. I wanted to be sure there could be no mistakes. But that was in itself my mistake.” he ran his thumb over Arette’s cheek, smearing blood on it.

Guiera spoke quietly, his hands clasped together tightly, and head down, “How should we proceed, sir?”

Bondrewd sighed, standing up straight. “Close her up and remove the thousand-man pin. Then clean her and put her in her sleeping gown all pretty in our bed. Prushka should see her before we cremate her.”

They nodded, and began. Bondrewd cleaned himself off, throwing away the gloves and surgery gown. It really was disappointing. He had made it for her and it never even got to go into her chest. Once he was satisfied with his cleaning, he made his way out of the room. Prushka was asleep with pillows by the door, and Bondrewd sighed.

His daughter was adorable, and so much like her mother despite them not being related at all. He kneeled down, and set his hand on her head, rubbing his fingers through her curled hair a moment before he picked her up and carried her to her room, Meinya hopping behind him.

He set his hand on her cheek. “Prushka. Wake up.”

She stirred a moment, before her eyes opened. “Papa?” She sat up suddenly, looking up at him, “Is the operation over? Can I see momma?”

“Prushka, I am sorry-”

Her smile fell, and she shook her head, her face scrunching up. “No!” she yelled, shaking her head harder.

“Yes, I am afraid-.”

“She promised we would go up together! She promised papa!” Prushka wailed loudly, “Momma! No!”

She threw herself onto the bed, screaming and frightening Meinya, who fled to the corner of the bed and shook. Bondrewd said nothing, as there was nothing to say.

She calmed down eventually, enough that she was just sniffling. She was laying face first in her sheets, and Meinya slowly returned to her to sit her back. Bondrewd turned as the door opened, Gueira sticking his head in. “She is ready.”

“Come Prushka. Let’s see momma one final time.”

“No. No, I don’t wanna see her!” Prushka snapped, thrashing on the bed. Bondrewd ignored her, and picked her up, and she continued to protest, until she broke down crying again

In their bed, Arette was slightly propped up, hands folded in her lap and her curled hair loose along the pillow. She was almost otherworldly in her beauty at that moment, her skin was rosy still, and she looked like she was only sleeping.

Yet her chest did not rise in fall with the breath of life. 

After some coaxing, Prushka finally looked, her breath shaky as she whimpered. She smiled a little, wiping her eyes.. “She looks pretty.” She managed to say.

Bondrewd set her on the bed. “Yes. There is beauty in suffering, in death. Just as there is in joy and life. Now say goodbye. Take as long as you need.”

Prushka crawled up to kneel besides Arette, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “Goodbye momma.” She then laid down next to her, face buried into her side. Bondrewd allowed her to remain as long as she wanted, gazing at Arette.

He lingered in the room after Guiera took Prushka away. He reached up, and took his helmet in his hands, and pulled it off. He then bent down, and pressed his lips to her forehead. She smelled like alcohol and blood.

He had never once kissed her. But he would spare her one, perhaps several, as a farewell gift for her return to the Abyss.

Arette was cremated. The heart survived the process, and he placed it in a wooden box to keep. After that, with her ashes, Bondrewed went to the altar of the absolute boundary. He gripped his whistle in his hands tightly, and then rubbed. The machine activated, and slowly began to drop. As it fell below the ocean, Bondrewd kneeled and lit a few sticks of incense.

When the descent stopped, he stepped out into the sixth layer, and opened the box. “Here… Let me help you get a little closer to the bottom my dear.” He tossed the contents into the air, and it drifted away on some unfelt breeze.

He gazed down into the darkness of the Abyss for a long while before sighing. “I am afraid I have too much to do, to join you down there yet. But perhaps one day I will take my final dive.”

He stepped back into the elevator, and it rose. His backpack hissed and then shot out a cartridge. He was silent for a long time before his dower posture became more upright again. “My my my my. This whole depressing business has proven to be incredibly beneficial in the long run.”

He went to Prushka’s room, setting himself on the side of the bed. Prushka rolled over and rubbed her eyes, red and swollen. She was still crying it seemed. “Prushka, lets talk for a little bit.”

Prushka sniffed and nodded.

“The stages of grief are long ones.” he said quietly, “But I ask you to not be angry, do not hate your momma, not even for a second, for not making it.”

He rubbed her head, and she grabbed his wrist, pressing her face into his palm. “I promise, Papa. I won’t ever hate Momma.”

She looked up at him then. “You won’t leave me will you?”

“Never. I will always be by your side, my little Prushka.”

Prushka grew into a young lady, as her Papa said. She went on even more adventures, discovered her own things. She missed her momma every day, and for two years, she tossed eternal fortunes into the sea of corpses for her so she could enjoy them down at the bottom of the Abyss.

She was fourteen when her Papa came to her, and told her guests were coming. That one of them was the daughter of a white whistle like her. Prushka cleaned a room for them, and greeted them.

Riko, Reg, and Nanachi. New people. Children like her. She was nervous, but excited.

“Blegh… it tastes like a wall.” Riko mumbled as she chewed the ration and Prushka giggled. Her momma always said the same thing.

“I can bring you honey. It makes it taste a little better.”

“You have honey down here?” Reg asked.

“Papa says it keeps really well and never goes bad. So he keeps some down here. For ‘nostalgia’ he says. I don’t know what that means though.” Prushka leaned in closer to Riko, “So, what does your name mean, Riko?”

Riko paused in her eating and looked up. “Huh? Well, I don't know. I never thought about it.”

“Well my name is Prushka, It means flower of dawn. My papa named me that. Have you guys ever seen a dawn?”

“Uh, Prushka,” Reg started, “Have you never been to the surface?”

“No, I was born down here.” Her face suddenly got hot. Was it weird that she had never seen a dawn?! “But don’t think I don’t know what dawn is. It's… It's when the lights turn on!”

“That's a strange way of putting it.” Reg chuckled.

“My momma said it that way. She said day was the lights on and night the lights off.” Prushka said, fiddling with her fingers. “She told me a lot about the surface. The ocean and stuff. Is it… Is it true?”

“Is what true?” Riko asked.

“Well… She said the ocean is salty. Is that true?”

“Yeah, it's super salty. If you drink it it actually kills you.” Riko said, grinning.

“Hmm. Doesn't sound so interesting, compared to the one down here.”

Nanachi looked at her from the bed. “You have a mother?” they asked darkly.

“Well yeah, doesn't everyone have one?” Prushka asked, turning and stepping up to nanachi, who leaned away from her, “You have one right?”

“I guess… I did once.” Nanachi grumbled, looking quite disgruntled for some reason.

Prushka instantly assumed nanachi’s mother was dead, and she did her best to sympathize. “My momma is gone too. She died when I was almost twelve.”

“Was your mom a black whistle?” Riko asked,

“Mhm. She got it so she could stay down here with papa and me. Before that she was a moon whistle. Papa brought her down to save her when she got sick. And she never left.”

Nanachi mumbled darkly. Reg looked at them before looking back at Prushka. “Uh, what happened to your mother?”

“She had a bad heart. That wasn’t always true, but when she was brought down here, what made her sick hurt it a lot. It gave her heart failure. Papa gave her an artifact that made her strong again, but eventually it stopped beating properly despite that. He did all he could. He even made her a new heart and tried to put it in her chest, but it wasn’t enough.”

She reached into her hat, and pulled out the photograph from inside, Meinya making a slight fuss at being bothered.

“Here, this is all of us. We took this before she went up one last time to see grandma.” Prushka smiled as Riko took the photo to look at it, “Your momma was Lyza right?”

“Yeah. We are going down to find her at the bottom of the Abyss.” Riko said, “She made it at least into the seventh layer, so she could be there.”

Prushka remembered what her mother had said. That those who died in the Abyss returned as a part of it. She fiddled with her fingers a moment, before looking up at Riko. “My momma said when people die, they come back as spirits in the Abyss. Do you think she is there too?”

“She might be, it is true that people like to think you become a part of the Abyss when you die. So, she could be there. You never know! Water flows up in the second layer so why couldn’t there be spirits?”

“What? Water flows up in the second layer? There isn’t anything like that down here!” Prushka paused a moment, trying to think of more things to talk about, “Hey, have you ever had cake, Riko? It's good food, you know?”

“Oh yeah, sometimes Laffi would give me some when I went to her shop.” Riko said, and Prushka gasped,

“Laffi? My momma knew Laffi I think! She got all the things for my birthday cake from her. Do you know Hablog? He taught my momma delving.”

The two girls squealed and Reg looked at Nanachi, grinning. “Well those two seem to be getting along.”

“Yeah I guess.” Nanachi grumbled.

Prushka eventually bid them a good rest and left. She ran up to Gueira, and smiled up at him. “They are nice I think, Gueira. I like Riko a lot.”

Gueira was silent for a moment before he seemed to change a little, his posture more familiar. “Oh you do?” he asked, “That is good. Are you already friends with her?”

Prushka looked to the side, scratching her lip. “I like to think so. We laughed a lot, and she told me about a lot of things. She mentioned a fish she ate before she came here. I want to try it out sometime. Can I?”

“Yes, that sounds like a fast friend. And absolutely. I get sick of those rations. Some good food would be nice for a change.” He sighed heavily, “I miss those cakes your mother made.”

“Maybe I can make you a cake, Gueira.” Prushka said, smiling at him, and he set his hand on her head, Meinya squeaking from under it.

Prushka yawned, and Gueira nodded down the hall. “Go to bed, you worked hard today.”

“Ehehe. Okay. Goodnight Gueira.” She turned and ran down the hall back to her room, and Gueira turned, and slowly continued on his way.

To say Bondrewd was excited by his guests was an understatement. There were only a few things that truly excited him at the thought of studying them. The Abyss itself, the embodiment of value in the sixth layer who he had seen only at a distance, and of course, one of the artificial beings of the Abyss. 

And to have Nanachi back… It was quite an exciting time.

Bondrewd walked down the hall, head tilting as the door to the room Prushka put them in opened. Nanachi stepped out, and glowered at him.

“Nanachi, I see you are awake. Why don’t you take a walk with me?”

Nanachi kept glowering at him, but they nodded. Bondrewd led them to the room lined with lights, and he ran his fingers over Mitty’s light. 

“I didn’t expect you to be a family man.” Nanachi finally said as they sat, head downcast, “A wife and daughter…”

“Arette came to me while you were still helping me with the experiments.” Bondrewd explained, eager to tell Nanachi about his wife, “I met her in the fourth layer. She was fighting an Orb Piercer and doing quite well against it. It was her very first trip into the fourth layer. I was so impressed with her skill level. Just a moon whistle and she held her own long enough to escape. You left before she was well enough to meet you sadly. I think you would have liked her.”

Nanachi looked at him, looking unimpressed. “And your daughter? When did you and your wife have her?”

“Ah, Prushka came to us before Arette and I were married. She is not mine by blood, but she is mine. Adorable isn’t she?

“So you had a wife but no children of your own? Figures I guess.”

“We discussed it. It was a hope. But it never came to pass.” Nanachi was not wrong of course. He could not have a child of his own flesh and blood any more. But there was more to family than blood, and he was sure to explain that as he gazed upon the lights of the children in the garden. “Is what they call family restricted merely to those related by blood? I do not believe that to be so. Families are built by strangers who cross paths and come together. Having souls that love each other is what makes people family. Blood just helps in that regard.”

He looked at them. “Love, it's a matter of love, Nanachi.”

Nanachi made an adorable aghast expression. “Love? You got some nerve to spew such grand concepts from such a narrow opening. What do you even know about love?”

“Your verbal barbs are always so unique and precious.” he touched their soft face and they flinched, “Arette would have liked you, Nanachi. She liked to quip at me too. Though she was not as creative as you are.”

Nanachi’s face scrunched up. “Oh and what did she call you?”

“Weird, annoying… Embarassing was my favorite one.” 

“Ugh.” Nanachi rolled their eyes and looked away from him. “Embarrassing is right.”

“She was altruistic too. You know, her heart only got as bad as it did because she insisted I test something on her instead of one of the children. I was so moved by the action.” Bondrewd pet Nanachi’s soft cheek a moment before he pulled away, “Now then, to business. The preparations are almost complete. So I ask you Nanachi, please come back and join me. There are so many things I would like for you to see.”

Nanach looked down, sulking almost and looking terribly conflicted. After a long moment of looking to the side, they spoke. “Naaaaa… Listen, Bondrewd....” they paused again, expression now almost fond. He wondered what they could be thinking of.

“... Fine. I will join you again.”

“That is positively delightful to hear.” he kneeled down and touched their soft fluffy arms, “Nanachi, You are something special you know that, right?”

Nanachi looked up at him. “I do have conditions though. My two friends, Riko and Reg. Please don’t hurt them. And help them get down to the sixth layer too.”

Oh dear. Well that was an unfortunate request. He had already broken it quite thoroughly with the ‘boy’. “Uh oh. I may have done something regrettable. You see, that boy-type robot is an unprecedented specimen. I may have already-”

Nanachi rushed past him, and Bondrewd turned to watch them run away on all fours. Oh he had no idea they ran like that. How cute. He got back up onto his feet, and made his way to them. Already aware of what was happening.

Prushka saw all of that. Oh dear. Poor girl. Bido fell into place beside him as he made his way to the docks, Prushka turning to him.

“Papa! Is it true, did you order Guiera and the others to hurt Reg?” She grabbed his coat and looked up at him, “Papa-”

He set his hand on her head. “Prushka. You will soon be a full grown lady. Use your own eyes and ears and assess the situation.”

She looked away from him, upset. “Papa. Guiera was being so weird. Is he okay?”

“Yes, he is fine. I will be sure I reprimand him for acting out of turn.” he turned to Bido, “Bido will watch you. He can be trusted. I must go retrieve our guests and try to salvage the situation. Understand?”

She nodded, stepping away from him nervously as Gueira and the others joined them on the docks. “Gueira please don’t hurt Reg more. Please?”

Gueira did not reply, and merely got the boat ready. Bondrewd set his hand back on her head. “I think he’s ashamed of his actions. It will be alright. I promise.”

Bondrewd got onto the boat with the others. He turned to look at Guiera, who was unresponsive due to him controlling him. It was the same for all of them. “I am afraid my old friend that we soon must say goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” Guiera said quietly, and the others mirrored his words.

They followed the children’s footsteps. The stingerhead hive was coming into view. They were hiding in there? He supposed that was as suitable as anything. In fact it could assure a major step in his plans, but it was very dangerous.

“Nanachi, please. There is no need to sulk” Bondrewd assured as he approached them and the mechanical child… Reg he believed he called himself, “I heard from Prushka, your friend is a very important doll to you, yes? I can not return him to his original condition, but I can repair him. Now then, let us all head back together.”

Nanachi looked up at him impassively. “One, he’s not a doll. Two, That is not going to happen. I will not let you go back.”

There was a click above him, and Bondrewd looked up to see the girl, Lyza’s daughter above him. Riko, he believed. She gripped a pickaxe in her hands tighter, and glared down at him before swinging and exploding the sandstone.

“That belongs to the sovereign of annihilation.” he observed, before looking back down at Nanachi with urgency, “It’s dangerous. You should evacuate Nanachi.”

Reg lifted his arm and shot it to the roof of the cave, grabbing a hold of the rocky surface. Nanachi snorted at him. “You know what, you shouldn’t just stare at holes. You really ought to look down at your feet a bit more.”

Reg lifted Nanachi up into the ceiling, to a hole that led outside. The ground rumbled at Bondrewd's feet, and he felt a thrill. They had planned this from the beginning hadn’t they? What clever dear children. He was impressed indeed at their nerve and resolve.

He stood calmly as his men were torn apart, Gueira’s flesh melting from the venom. It was a necessary loss. Guiera was close to Prushka, and for her to be complete, he had to die. They all did. He had known this the moment Arette had died. Her death worked in the grand scheme of things. As unfortunate as it had been, in the end it was a blessing.

He lifted his arms and bent them, and activated the sparagmos, cutting through the stingerheads easily, he stepped out of the hive, and called to the children. He knew they were fine, but he still worried.

“Children. What has come over you? Why are you hiding in such a place?”

Prushka watched from afar, hands over her mouth as her face scrunched up. Where was Gueira? Why did he not come out with papa? Was he-?

Bido set his hand on her head and Prushka could only watch as Riko and her friends hurt her Papa, cursing him, crushing him. He had promised. He had promised! She ran from Bido and down to her Papa. He couldn’t be. He had promised her!

“Papa?”

“Prushka, wait-” Riko called to her, but Prushka kept moving towards him, his flesh bulging from between his scarf and helmet, the purple glow from his helmet dark.

“Papa, answer me.” She took his helm into her hands and leaned over him, sobbing, “Papa, please wake up. You promised. You promised me. Don’t leave me like momma did. Please Papa.”

She sobbed loudly into her hands. Momma, Guiera, and now Papa too. How could Riko’s friend be so cruel? “Papa, Papa I can’t lose you too.”

Bido stepped up behind her and set his hand on her head again, before he kneeled down. Slowly he took off Bondrewd’s whistle, pausing for a long moment, before he grabbed Papa’s helmet and pulled it off. His flesh sloughed out, bloody and horrifying, and Prushka watched as Bido removed his own helmet and whistle, putting both on.

His coat ripped, the cotton stuffing and ripped fabric falling to the ground, and below, her Papa stood. His tail waving behind him.

The joy was overwhelming, so much so she did not even question how Bido had become her papa. “Papa!”

Bondrewd turned to her, holding out his hands to her. “Papa is here, Prushka.”

Prushka stood and ran to him, her face burying in his coat. “Papa, you came back!”

“Of course I did. I promised you didn’t I?” he picked her up, and Prushka held his helmet in her hands, pressing her face to the metal, “I won’t be going anywhere. As long as I have your love, I am immortal.”

Everything after that went dark.

She was cold when she woke up, unable to move, the feeling of something soft crossing on her skin. She looked up at her Papa, and after a moment of struggle she spoke.

“Papa.... I want to go with you and Riko… Down there.”

Bondrewd stopped, looking at Prushka. “Down where?”

“Riko said what momma did… That you go to the bottom of the Abyss when you die… Is she… Is momma down there Papa?” She reached her hand up, “Papa… I want to go down there… And get her. I want to see the dawn with you and her.”

It hurt. What papa was doing hurt. But she would do anything for him. Even this.

Bondrewd took her hand gently in his. “Let’s have an adventure then, Prushka. We will go down, and we will see your mother again. Together. And then, when we come back up, the dawn will be waiting, and we all will be together, forever.”

Prushka smiled at him, and Bondrewd began the process.

It hurt. They took her arms, her legs, things she didn’t know the same of. It hurt so badly, and she was so scared, and yet at the same time, so happy. She remembered Gueira, her momma, the good food her momma made. She remembered being under the blankets, and her momma speaking to papa. 

“If anything happens to this child, I will kill you.”

_Momma… Don’t hate Papa. It's okay. I want this. I want this I promise. It hurts but it's for him So don’t hate him, Momma._

She could feel her Papa’s feelings through it all. Feel that her pain gave him strength.

_Papa. I’m here. I’m with you. No matter how dark the night is. We can overcome it together._

But at the same time she could not help but think of Riko. Of the things they talked about, the things they shared. The feelings she felt, some of them new.

And so she made a single request. Selfish perhaps, but she made it any way.

_Please papa. I have just one thing to ask of you. Just one thing._

_I want you to make peace with Riko and her friends._

_You don’t have to fight._

“Reg, Riko! Do it now!”

_I mean after all, we are going to go on an adventure together!_

_Togher on an adventure to find Riko’s momma at the very bottom of the Abyss…_

_And mine._

Nanachi rushed to Reg, putting their hands over his stomach. “Don’t you dare die on me, Reg” They snapped, looking at him.

Reg groaned, flinching in pain. “Nanachi-”

“Don’t try to talk. I am going to fix you no matter what it takes.” Reg proceeded to grab their arm and pulled them to lay over him, his nose buried in their fur, “Naaaaa, hey!”

“Thanks… I feel calmer now. Take care… of Riko.” Reg slipped into unconsciousness, and Nanachi glanced over to Riko, who was clutching the cartridge and sobbing.

“Nanachi…”

They froze, and stood up with a jolt. They stared at the upper half of Bondrewd, eyes narrowing a moment before they cautiously approached him. Was the bastard still alive?”

Bondrewd lifted his head to look at them, and Nanachi figured as much. He was too stubborn to just grant them the pleasure of dying immediately. “You surprised me. You managed to get the severed arm functioning. You used all your strength, all your wits. You all took action… Truly moving. Utterly marvelous.”

Nanachi clenched their fists. “That's enough of your blabbering. It doesn't look like you have anyone else to help you either. Which means you no longer have any Umbra Hand’s to fight us.”

“Gyarike is still in the fourth layer, yes.” Bondrewd affirmed, still sounding so pleasant, like he wasn’t even in pain.

Nanachi frowned. “I said be quiet. Nothing is going to stop us from leaving, or destroying everything here, including the zoaholic. Your evil asparations end right here.”

“Oh, heavens no. Your prayers, your ardent desire to choose your own paths and push forward. They have surpassed even my own.” His voice wavered a moment, like he was finally feeling the pain, “Although it is regrettable that this body has been destroyed, crossing paths and getting to clash with you, was an unparalleled joy.”

God just how much air did this guy have left?

“The fact you all will continue on beyond this place, is now my new aspiration.”

Nothing seemed to faze him at all. Nothing made him angry, sad, or even regret. Nanachi lowered their head. “I see it’s pointless to say anything to you. You're sick.” They looked up at him again, “And you are unbelievably pathetic.”

They paused a moment. “You know, it's funny. I long dreamed of the day we would kill each other and-”

They froze as Bondrewd lifted his clawed hand to their face, holding their cheek. “Ah, Nanachi. It pleases me that things didn’t turn out that way.”

How could he…? Nanachi started sniffling, but they held back their tears. This man would never make them cry again.

“Come now, raised your head up high.” Nanachi looked at him, and he continued, “May your journey overflow with both curses, and blessings.” 

Nanachi took his wrist into their hand, for a moment holding it closer to their cheek. He was so very soft like they were... They pulled his hand off their face then, looking definitely down at him. “You can shut up now.”

Bondrewd did not shut up. “You are… adorable.” He let out a weary laugh then. “You know… My wife told me… she told me...”

It made him almost seem normal. Him waxing poetic about his wife as he was dying. Nanachi humored him. “What? What did she tell you?”

He inhaled a deep shaky breath. “She told me she would kill me if harm ever came to Prushka.” Bondrewd let out a wheezy chuckle, “I wish to thank you… You enacted her will for her… It was indeed… Marvelous. But how I would have loved for it... to have been her whip to slice me in half.”

His voice got breathy, and Nanachi figured he was finally dying. “She was… so skilled… with… it.”

His head fell back then, and his arm went limp in their hand. Nanachi gripped the arm tightly a moment before letting it drop. They felt bad just for a second, but remembered he was probably still alive, in a new body.

Bastard could not even grant his dead wife’s desire.

Nanachi wrapped Reg up, and sat back as he woke up after a few pats from their hand. the boy sat up with a jolt. “I took a peek. Everything seems to be uninjured.” they said, “And judging by how you are acting, you probably will be fine.”

Reg looked at Bondrewd’s remains. “Is he dead?”

“We won, yes. But there are a few of the Umbra Hand still around so he probably body snatched one of them already. But none of them are strong enough to stop us…” Nanachi looked back at the base wearily, We should probably destroy the Zoaholic before that one we met in the fourth layer-”

Riko suddenly wailed, and Nanachi and Reg looked at her.

“It's not fair!” She sobbed as she clutched the cartridge to her chest, getting up onto her knees after a few more deep breaths and shuffling to Reg, “Reg, your tummies h-hurt!”

“I’m going to be alright Riko.” Reg assured her, and Riko sat back down, looking at the cartridge.

“Prushka feels so warm.” she pet the cartridge, “Maybe we could help her. She has a pulse and-.”

The cartridge bubbled, and Riko panicked. “I-I’m sorry is that painful, would this be better?”

She tilted it back on its side, and Prushka’s remains began to leak out. Riko panicked more, trying to stop it. “No! No Prushka I’m sorry please! You want to see the dawn remember? You want to go find your mom like I do!”

It would not stop and soon it slowed, the pulse she once felt was gone. Riko started to sob heavily, leaning over the case and hugging it tightly. Meinya made a little sound, and there was a clunk. Riko looked up, and saw something had fallen out of the case.

“What is that?” Nanachi asked.

Riko picked it up. It was a white stone, shaped like a heart. As she held it, she felt something come from it. Something familiar. Her eyes widened. “Prushka, is that you?”

“Seriously, you think she-?”

Riko sniffed. “Well yeah… What else could it be? It's just so strange.” She held it closer, and rubbed it, and a sound emitted from it.

Reg shuddered and held his stomach. “My belly feels hot.”

It had to be one. A life reverberating stone.

Nanachi made a harness for the stone, for Prushka to sit safely in. Riko had done it. She was a white whistle. It didn’t feel all too great though.

It felt terrible.

They went back into the base to look for the Zoaholic. There was no sign of the Umbra Hands, and so they felt safe enough to split up to cover more ground and find it. Meinya sat on her shoulder, focused on the whistle. Riko wondered if Meinya could feel what she could feel.

She found the store room for delving supplies, and she guessed it would be a good idea to take them to restock, and get some easy food for at least a week or maybe more. 

Riko rummaged through the supplies, Going to a crate filled with type four rations, hopping a few times until she could get her hands in deep enough to grab a large handful of them. She was about to fall in, when a hand grabbed her jacket and pulled her back.

She turned around as soon as she was set back on her feet, and looked up at the Umbra Hand that stood before her. “If you touch me again I’ll… I’ll kick you.” she sniffled.

The man kneeled before her and he held out his hand to her, and she stared at it incredulously. “What? What do you want?”

“Let me see her.”

It was Bondrewd's voice. He had a lot of guts to approach her so brazenly after he had been so soundly defeated. She opened her mouth, ready to scream for the others, until she felt something from the stone hanging from her neck.

She could almost hear Prushka’s voice.

_Papa!_

She sniffled, and after a few moments, she took the life reverberating stone off from around her neck and set it in Bondrewd’s hand. She watched as he clasped it between both of his hands, and held it to his chest. She could just barely tell that Prushka was happy, even more so when he pet the stone gently.

“She likes it when you pet her.” Riko wiped her nose on her sleeve. Even now Prushka seemed to love him, after everything he did. She didn’t understand.

“Yes, she always did.” He lifted one hand, and Riko shied away from him, “Thank you, Riko.” 

Riko flinched as he set his hand on her head, gently ruffling her hair. “Why are you thanking me?”

“You were such a good friend to her, that she thought of you, and became this. Thanks to you, Prushka can get her wish.”

“What wish?” Riko was starting to cry again, her glasses fogging up. Bondrewd moved his hand and used a finger to wipe a tear away.

“She wished to go on an adventure with you, and with me. To the very bottom of the Abyss. She wanted-”

“She wanted to find her mother.” Riko said, breaking down more and her shoulders shaking with her attempts to suppress her sobbing..

“Yes. You knew her for such a short time, yet at the end of it all, in all her pain, she loved you as much as she loved me. You are truly marvelous, Riko. Just like your mother.” he held Prushka back out to her, and Riko took the stone, sobbing, “Thank you for making it so my precious daughter could go on her adventure.”

Riko held Prushka to her chest and she wailed. Why did it have to be like this? They could have all gone down together. Prushka alive, Bondrewd helping them. More friends to have. And yet that wasn’t what happened at all. She buried her face into his shoulder as Bondrewd wrapped his arms around her and held her gently, his hand petting her hair. 

She could feel it, faintly, how much Prushka loved him.

He pulled away. “Riko, if you do find my wife somehow down there, tell her I love her, won’t you?” Riko nodded at him as she hiccupped, and Bondrewd gave her a final pat on her head as he stood up. “Look after Riko and Prushka, Meinya.”

Meinya stretched its wings as it stood up from where it was sitting on the crate. “Myaaa.”

Bondrewd then turned and began to walk away from her. Riko took a few sharp breaths through her sobbing, doing her best to get a good breath in. “Prushka loves you. She still loves you.”

“And I love her too. May she have many wonderful adventures with you, Riko.” 

He finally left, and Riko fell to her knees and cried.

After a few minutes, Nanachi poked their head into the room. “Naaaaa. You're crying again.” They walked up to her, scratching their cheek. “Come on, we need you to help us find the Zoaholic.”

Riko shook her head. She couldn’t. She couldn’t kill him. Not when Prushka loved him so much. He was horrible, irredeemable, and yet Prushka loved him unconditionally.

And Riko knew, she just knew, that Bondrewd loved her too. None of it made sense, but she couldn’t do any more harm here. “Oh Nanachi… He-He- Was here and he spoke to me and- and he-”

Riko wailed loudly, and Nanachi set their hand on her head, sighing. “He got to you, huh? He got me feeling bad for him too, talking about his wife.” They gave her head a light smack, and it didn’t hurt at all, “Fine, we won’t destroy it if that’s what you want.”

“Thank you, Nanachi.” 

“Riko are you okay? I could hear you crying from three levels down.” Reg poked his head in.

“She’s fine. Reg, help me get all these things in the pack. We gotta go.” Nanachi helped Riko stand up, and Riko bent over to pick up the rations, still sobbing. Meinya hopped onto her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek.

She hiccuped, and took off her glasses to wipe her eyes. She followed the others outside to take a look over everything they managed to get. As Nanachi examined reg, Riko openied a ration and took a bite. It somehow was even more bland then before due to her stuffy nose. She cracked a smile, tears still flowing down her cheeks.

“Crying and eating. You’re quite the multitasker, Riko.” Nanachi teased.

Reg looked back to Ido Front, face concerned for a moment “Hey, Nanachi.”

Nanachi looked to where Reg was staring, and there Bondrewd stood with what remained of his Umbra Hands, his battered nearly destroyed helmet on his head. A single eye was exposed, and looking upon them with a gentle gaze.

Nanachi grumbled. “Damn him… I should have smashed that mask into a thousand pieces.”

“Are you okay?” Reg asked, looking at them.

“We’ve come to an understanding of sorts.” They trailed off and looked at Riko, “Besides, I’m going to respect our team leader’s will.”

Riko set her hand on Prushka, looking up at the altar. This was it, wasn’t it? There was no coming back after this. She looked down at the stone in her hand, giving it a squeeze. This had started with the intent on finding her mother, and now it was more than that. It was the adventures she had with Reg and Nanachi, the discovery of the unknown, and now hopefully doing what Prushka wished for. 

She smiled, turning to look at Bondrewd for a moment, then looking at Reg and Nanachi.

“Come on guys. It's time to go on our next adventure!”


End file.
